Just as Libs Thought They Had a Chance Against Kavanaugh, NRA Joins the Fight
When President Donald Trump nominated the eminently qualified Judge Brett Kavanaugh to fill the Supreme Court seat left vacant by retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy, Democrats mounted an all-out assault on Kavanaugh’s character and attempted to smear him as the worst possible nominee for the court ever.
Along those lines, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer vowed to obstruct and oppose Kavanaugh’s nomination with everything he had, and he has been joined in that effort by a number of other obstinate Democrat senators who refuse to even meet with Kavanaugh, much less vote to confirm him to the high court.
The Washington Free Beacon noted that Schumer’s plan to stop the confirmation of Kavanaugh — who only requires a slim majority of 51 votes, thanks in part to former Democrat leader Harry Reid’s “nuclear option” that killed the 60-vote threshold for confirmations — requires all Democrat senators to stand opposed to Kavanaugh, as well as at least one Republican.
But that plan may not work exactly as intended in light of a rather significant political force that just entered the fray on behalf of Kavanaugh — the National Rifle Association’s Institute for Legislative Action, which just released a hard-hitting advertisement designed to put immense pressure on a handful of senators whose votes will be key to Kavanaugh’s confirmation.
“Four liberals on the Supreme Court would take away your right to self-defense,” intoned the narrator as the ad displayed pictures of Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elana Kagan.
The ad then showed a clip of Justice Breyer being asked what the Second Amendment meant to him, to which he responded, “Not the right of an individual to keep a gun next to his bed.”
“Four liberal justices oppose your right to self-defense … four justices support your right to self-defense,” continued the narrator, as pictures were displayed of Justices John Roberts, Sam Alito, Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch.
“President Trump chose Brett Kavanaugh to break the tie. Your right to self-defense depends on this vote,” the narrator stated.
“Tell your senator, defend our right to self-defense. Confirm Judge Kavanaugh,” the short 30-second spot concluded.
The Free Beacon reported that the NRA spent a seven-figure sum for the national ad campaign as well as for regional ads that will target voters and potentially vulnerable senators in states like Alabama, Alaska, Indiana, North Dakota and West Virginia.
Notably, those states include four Democrats and one Republican senator — Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski, who is rather moderate and at times wishy-washy and undependable when it comes to close votes — that have been targeted as key votes in the confirmation process.
The four Democrat senators are Doug Jones, Joe Donnelly, Heidi Heitkamp and Joe Manchin, three of whom are up for re-election in red states that President Trump won in 2016 and are filled with citizens who cherish their Second Amendment-guaranteed right to keep and bear arms.
Even prior to the release of this ad which will no doubt increase the pressure on those senators from the right, the three senators facing tough re-election fights — Donnelly, Heitkamp and Manchin — had already stated that they wouldn’t allow themselves to be pressured by Schumer or automatically oppose Kavanaugh.
Chris Cox, executive director of the NRA-ILA, said that Kavanaugh “will protect our constitutional right to keep and bear arms. It’s critical that all pro-Second Amendment voters urge their senators to confirm Judge Kavanaugh.”
It remains to be seen exactly when Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will bring Kavanaugh’s nomination to the floor for a confirmation vote, but it is looking more and more likely — especially in the aftermath of this NRA ad campaign — that he will be confirmed with more than enough votes to bypass Democrat efforts to stop him.
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