What Happened In The Brett Kavanaugh Hearing

Sen. Whitehouse, a Democrat, is saying basically that Ford is an ideal witness. He’s putting it on these terms because the Republicans on the committee are trying to make the hearing — prosecutor and all — more like a trial than a Senate hearing (which typically has a different flavor, shall we say.)

Tactically, if you’re really trying to impugn Ford, I’m not sure that merely jabbing at her like Mitchell is doing is really going to work when Ford has been very effective so far.

If Kavanaugh withdraws, who’s in line to take his place?

Earlier this week, Ollie gave us a nice little recap of the judges who were widely thought to be in contention for the Supreme Court seat along with Kavanaugh. Two — Thomas Hardiman and Raymond Kethledge — are men, though, and after this testimony, it could feel like a big misstep to nominate another man. Meanwhile, 7th Circuit judge Amy Coney Barrett’s past comments on abortion and Supreme Court precedent could put her in hot water with Senate Democrats as well as pro-choice senators Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski. That doesn’t mean Trump wouldn’t nominate her, since she’s popular among his conservative Christian base. But it might be worth keeping other women from Trump’s longer list of potential nominees — like 6th Circuit judge Joan Larsen — on our radar, if things really go south for Kavanaugh today.