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Kavanaugh-Supporting Women Ask, "What Boy Hasn't Done This?"

CNN pulls together a revealing and damning panel of Republican women.

Republican defenses of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh have been, well, gross. Kavanaugh has been accused of sexual assault more than 30 years ago, and GOP dismissals range from "it didn't happen" to "if it did, it's fine" to pretending that he has to be proven guilty beyond a shadow of a doubt to be a Supreme Court Justice (instead of his character and record being impeccable for him to qualify for the job).

The defenses are so scattered and embarrassing partly because the push behind Kavanaugh seems to be in disarray. In a report out over the weekend, the Washington Post details insider efforts to prep Kavanaugh for the hearing and explains what's at stake for the GOP, not just in the long-term but in the upcoming midterm elections. The article is titled "Incredibly frustrated." Per the Post:

How Kavanaugh weathers the storm—and if enough Senate Republicans stand by him—will help determine the ideological balance of the Supreme Court for a generation. A handful of GOP senators are undecided about how they will proceed on Kavanaugh’s confirmation, particularly in light of Ford’s accusation, and the party faces a broader political challenge: Keep their right flank satisfied by confirming a reliable conservative to the court, while minimizing backlash among female and independent voters ahead of the November midterms.

“The Republicans need women voters, but all hell will break loose (or it will be chaos) if this nomination unravels,” Dan Eberhart, an Arizona-based GOP donor, wrote in an email. “If we can’t get the nomination done, why vote Republican?”

Why, indeed. And it's in Republicans' best interest to get the confirmation over with as quickly as possible, since as it drags on, support for Kavanaugh is flagging. Even a Fox News poll found that a "record number" of voters are opposed to his nomination.

But CNN managed to scrape together some women who are still on his side. All five on CNN's panel said that they believe Kavanaugh's denials and none said they think the incident should disqualify him from being on the Supreme Court, even if it turns out to be true. "Who are we to judge?" one woman asks.

None of the five women featured believe Kavanaugh's accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, and they all dismiss her claims as either misremembered, based in jealousy, or overblown. One even asks, "What boy hasn't done this in high school?" This is a shocking rhetorical question, because it implies that attempted rape is so common that it barely merits acknowledging later, and that if a man attempted to rape someone as a teenager it says nothing about his character. And it certainly shouldn't be held against him later in life.

However, these women aren't average Republican voters. They're all in some way affiliated with the GOP, from running in Republican primaries to working for Ted Cruz's presidential campaign and hosting $1000-a-plate fundraisers.

It's not clear why these women weren't more clearly identified in CNN's story. But it does show just how far reporters have to reach to find women who want to see Kavanaugh deciding laws for a generation. Hell, this might be the last handful of women in the country who do.

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