THE JOURNEY – AT 11:44 A.M. ET:  Judge Brett Kavanaugh has started his journey toward a confirmation vote in the U.S. Senate.  Soundings from his first day on the grand tour are pretty positive.  From The Hill:

With President Trump overseas, Vice President Pence, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and former Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) — the designated Senate “sherpa” —  are guiding Supreme Court justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh around Capitol Hill in search of the 51 votes he needs for confirmation in the upper chamber.

Throughout the whirlwind day following Kavanaugh’s East Room debut, Senate Democrats faced an immovable fact: With only 49 seats in their caucus, they don’t have the votes to block the 53-year-old judge’s path to succeed Justice Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court.

The Hill tracked down three Democratic senators who are seeking reelection in November in states Trump carried in 2016 — Sens. Claire McCaskill (Mo.), Bill Nelson (Fla.) and Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.). How will they vote on Kavanaugh’s nomination? Each went out of their way to avoid reporters’ questions, but one Democratic senator was blunt:

“We have to lower the expectations of our base. We can’t defeat the nominee on our own.” – a Democratic senator who requested anonymity.

Instead, the goal of the Democrats, according to reporting by The Hill’s Alexander Bolton, is to “inflict as much political damage on the GOP as possible ahead of the November midterm elections.”

Liberal voters want Democratic senators to do more than delay and create temporary hurdles for Trump and Republicans. But if the Senate majority works together, Democrats are boxed in.

“If they keep all their votes together, there’s nothing we can do.” – Senate Democratic aide, speaking on background.

COMMENT:  I don't see what damage the Dems can inflict on the GOP over the Kavanaugh nomination.  This is a quality choice.  If the Democrats oppose Kavanaugh on principled grounds, and behave like adults, they might be able to improve their own sorry image, even as they are defeated in the nomination vote.  That would be a real accomplishment for a party that sometimes seems to think it's part of a student government.

July 11, 2018