Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., knows she’s not going to support Judge Brett Kavanaugh, but she still wants a meeting with him.
Back in July, Baldwin indicated almost immediately that she opposed his confirmation to the Supreme Court. In a statement, the senator depicted Kavanaugh as the servant of “powerful special interests” and suggested his confirmation “would turn back the clock on a woman’s constitutional right and freedom to make her own health care choices.”
Baldwin’s hasty judgment on Kavanaugh drew criticism from Republicans. They charged her with blind obstructionism. After Baldwin’s general election opponent, Republican state Sen. Leah Vukmir, made a pledge to meet with every Supreme Court nominee if elected, the incumbent suddenly said she was scheduling a meeting with Kavanaugh. A Baldwin aide told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Tuesday the senator had reached out to the White House to set up a sit down with the nominee.
The timeline here is key. It took Baldwin less than three days to make up her mind on Kavanaugh. Then, after almost two months of criticism in the middle of a tough re-election battle, she quietly had an aide tell the press her office was looking to schedule a meeting.
This is an interesting case study in the odd positioning of the ten Democratic senators up for re-election in states President Trump won. Baldwin needs to maintain strong support from the Democratic base in Milwaukee and Madison, where voter turn out will have to be high. That explains why she announced early opposition to Kavanaugh. At the same time, however, she also needs votes from centrist Democrats and independents, who might be turned off by Baldwin opposing Kavanaugh without ever meeting him; Vukmir seems to be playing to those voters. That either candidate is devoting this time to the matter indicates they believe voters care about it.
Democratic incumbents in deep red states like Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Indiana’s Joe Donnelly welcomed photo-ops with Kavanaugh. Given that Trump won Wisconsin by a small margin, Baldwin didn’t quite go that far. But after taking heat from Vukmir and others, she seems to know it’s politically wise to at least sit down with the nominee and throw cold water on a line of attack that Democrats have deemed worthy of countering.
Unfortunately for Baldwin, however, her efforts to set up a meeting with a nominee she’s already denounced now look like a charade.
