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Fox Poll: Americans Evenly Split Over Kavanaugh Confirmation

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What are the chances Brett Kavanaugh will be "Borked" by Democrats? Are any fireworks expected? Watch Gary Lane's On the Homefront interview with Legal analyst Kendall Coffee who weighs in on Kavanaugh and the personal qualities he possesses that remind him of one current Supreme Court justice.

A new Fox News poll shows American voters are evenly split over the upcoming confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the United States Supreme Court.

Forty-five percent of those polled said he should be confirmed, 46 percent said he should not be seated on the high court.

Five weeks ago, 38 percent of voters said they supported confirmation compared to 32 percent who were opposed.

At the same time, it appears that voters in three, key Senate battleground states want to see Kavanaugh confirmed.

According to Politico, North Star Opinion Research said people in Indiana, West Virginia and North Dakota  want to see their senators vote in favor of the SCOTUS nominee.

Sixty percent of voters in North Dakota want Heidi Heitkamp (D) to cast a yes vote for Kavanaugh. Fifty-one percent of those polled in West Virgnia want Senator Joe Manchin (D) to do the same, and 46 percent of Indiana voters want their senator, Joe Donnelly (D) to confirm Kavanaugh.

A simple 51 vote majority in the Senate is needed if Kavanaugh is to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy.

Some Senate Democrats--led by minority leader Chuck Schumer (D) New York, have said they oppose Kavanaugh's nomination because he was a staff secretary for President George W. Bush when the administration formulated U.S. torture policy. The policy allowed waterboarding against suspected terrorists. Most conservatives argue Kavanaugh would not have had any influence or involvement in the torture decision.

Regardless, Senate Democrats want Kavanaugh and Bush to turn over all records and documents pertaining to the Supreme Court nominee's time in the White House. 

Democrats would also like to know more about Kavanaugh's involvement and influence on the Whitewater investigation. For three years, Kavanaugh worked with independent counsel Ken Starr and helped write a report that may have influenced members of the U.S. House of Representatives to support the impeachment of President Bill Clinton. 

Kavanaugh has recently said since that time, he has changed his mind about special prosecutors and independent counsels.

"Kavanaugh has taken a deeper look at whether that kind of investigation is good for this country, whether the constitution really wants the president of the United States, the most important, powerful person in the world to be hamstrung, distracted – basically made a less effective head of the free world because the president has to deal with subpoenas and investigations and a constant drumbeat of issues with respect to an investigation," explained legal analyst Kendall Coffee.

Coffee is former U.S. District Attorney for the Southern District of Florida. He worked with Kavanaugh during the final stages of the Elian Gonzales case. Gonzales was a child immigrant who was forced to return to Cuba after a lengthy, legal battle between his uncle and father. Coffee served as attorney for the Gonzales family members who fought to keep the boy in Miami.

He said he is deeply appreciative of the work Kavanaugh did to help a little, immigrant child remain in the United States.

"He came in at a very tough time for us, we lost the appeal," Coffee explained. 

"He volunteered his time, he was a brilliant lawyer, a magnificent colleague and I was very, very grateful for his efforts. Interestingly, the issue in the Elian Gonzales case, which is thought about as a best interest of the father kind of case, was actually an issue that is very much getting attention now," Coffee also said.

Absent any last minute surprises during the confirmation hearings, Coffee says he's confident the Senate will vote to confirm Kavanaugh.

"I think it's going to be very uphill to try to defeat his nomination," he predicted. "I think the people watching the confirmation hearings are really going to like this guy."

 

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About The Author

Gary Lane
Gary
Lane

Mr. Lane currently serves as International News Director and Senior International Correspondent for CBN News. He has traveled to more than 120 countries—many of them restricted nations or areas hostile to Christianity and other minority faiths where he has interviewed persecution victims and has provided video reports and analysis for CBN News. Also, he has provided written stories and has served as a consultant for the Voice of the Martyrs. Gary joined The Christian Broadcasting Network in 1984 as the first full-time Middle East Correspondent for CBN News. Based in Jerusalem, Gary produced