“I was very emotional last Thursday, more so than I have ever been”, Kavanaugh wrote in the Journal.
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Kavanaugh’s fate remained unclear early Friday, as a handful of key senators who hold the keys to his success had yet to say if they were prepared to support the judge.
Mr Kavanaugh has been embroiled in a bitter battle to stave off sexual assault allegations.
Ultimately, it was Collins who put Kavanaugh on the brink of a lifetime appointment. He is attacking Joe Manchin, who is the only Democrat who voted to clear Brett Kavanaugh.
The Senate’s showdown roll call confirmation vote is expected Saturday afternoon.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) walks to the Senate floor for a cloture vote on the nomination of Supreme Court Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the US Supreme Court, at the U.S. Capitol, October 5, 2018 in Washington, DC.
Murkowski chose the opposite path.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said Kavanaugh represents “a hard-right, conservative jurisprudence, far, far away from what average Americans believe”.
When she finished, Collins received applause from the roughly two dozen GOP senators present. “We’re taking it a day at a time to see what happens”. Immediately after the speech, the Maine Democratic Party sent a fund-raising e-mail declaring that “Collins: 2020 starts today”.
Former Arizona Rep. Jim Kolbe struck a tone that many Republicans have adopted in the case: Sympathy and respect for Ford, but due process for Kavanaugh. “But we try to avoid controversy, so we’re very guarded about raising topics that we think might create hostility in the room”, she said. Steve Daines (R), who will be taking part in his daughter’s wedding instead of voting. Senators often partner like that to allow an absence without affecting the outcome. Support from Collins and Manchin would give Kavanaugh at least 51 votes.
In a sign of the political pressure the Alaska Republican faces, a variety of activists and constituents showed up at her Washington, DC, Senate office throughout Friday morning before and after the vote. She was re-elected in 2016.
Speaking to NPR after Collins and Manchin announced their support for Kavanaugh, a lawyer for Ford addressed whether the California professor feels she failed because confirmation is now a near certainty. All of the witnesses Ford named refuted her account.
“Even in these situations, the standard is that a judge must act at all times in manner that projects confidence”, she said. “I found Christine Ford’s testimony to be very heart-wrenching, painful and compelling”. She patted him on the shoulder as they split up. She supports the #MeToo movement, Collins said, calling it badly needed and long overdue.
Sen. Kamala Harris shrugged off the recently released Federal Bureau of Investigation report regarding Judge Brett Kavanaugh Thursday; asking her supporters to sign an online petition against the potential Supreme Court Justice. To deny she knows her attacker is to deny her entire story. She added: “This behaviour revealed a hostility and a belligerence that is unbecoming someone seeking to be elevated to the United States Supreme Court”.
Collins had all three cable networks and some broadcast networks airing her words for almost an hour. He was the first Democrat to meet with Kavanaugh when the nominee was meeting with senators on Capitol Hill in July. If confirmed, Kavanaugh could tip the court’s balance toward conservatives for a generation.
Oddly, Ms Murkowski will also separately be counted for a “yes” vote.
On Friday the Senate voted along party lines to remove the last obstacle to holding a decisive vote this weekend.
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When it was her turn, Murkowski stood up, paused, and whispered “no”, her voice barely audible.
