Hey there, Democrat Senators Feinstein, Booker, Harris, Blumenthal, et al. Hope you enjoyed your time in the limelight during the Kavanaugh hearings. But sadly, dear Spartacus & Friends, the time has come to pay the bills—at the polls.
On Morning Joe—notoriously no fan of things Republican—there was consensus today that the Kavanaugh hearings have provided a "huge bump" for the GOP, while amounting to a "disaster" for the Dems. The comments came after polling maven Steve Kornacki reported that Republicans have moved ahead in four key Senate races: Tennessee, Texas, Nevada, and Arizona.
WILLIE GEIST: So as you look at all these, Joe, from start to finish here, what do you see?
JOE SCARBOROUGH: Well, I see right now the Republicans getting a huge bump out of the Kavanaugh hearings. I think a lot of Americans, especially a lot of Republicans, didn't like what they saw during those hearings coming from the Democratic side of the aisle.
. . .
RICK TYLER: I agree with you, that the Kavanaugh hearings had a dramatically positive effect for Republicans.
. . .
JOE: Boy, looking back, assessing what went on during the Kavanaugh hearings, there is no doubt, as somebody that studies branding, there is no doubt that at least for Senate candidates, the Kavanaugh hearings were a disaster for the Democratic party.
Scarborough added the standard caveats as to how "a week in politics is a lifetime," predicting that things will "churn" more than once between now and Election Day. Even so, things are looking very different today from the moment when the accusations against Kavanaugh began to leak from the Dems and the media started its all-out assault on the SCOTUS nominee.
It's also noteworthy that Rick Tyler agreed with Joe's take on the hearings being a big plus for Republicans. A senior aide to Ted Cruz during his presidential run, Tyler has been a bitter critic of President Trump, and anything but a big Republican fan.
Donny Deutsch tried to put the best face on things for the Dems. He claimed that the enthusiasm gap is swinging back in the Dems' favor. He also said that the Dems will try to switch the focus, seeking to convince voters that Republicans are going to "take away your health care." Good luck with that.
