The attempt to revive last year’s Brett Kavanaugh fracas by way of a book and a New York Times story was a loss for the Democrats in more ways than one.

First, the new charges turned out to have no more basis than the original ones. Second, the high court is the one cause that unites all Republicans. And third, it blew up the biggest and best card that the Democrats have to play in next year’s elections: that President Trump has “shattered the norms” of polite public discourse. True, Trump seems to step on a norm every time he opens his mouth, but his transgressions seem small indeed next to the rampage of unrestrained breakage that results each time a Democrat comes within striking distance of a Republican president’s Supreme Court nominee.