September 25, 2018 11:06 AM UTC

Get More Smarter on Tuesday (September 25)

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• by: Colorado Pols

T-minus six weeks until Election Day. It’s time to Get More Smarter. If you think we missed something important, please include the link in the comments below (here’s a good example). If you are more of a visual learner, check out The Get More Smarter Show.

TOP OF MIND TODAY…

► Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and his Republican friends are trying desperately to maintain some sort of positive momentum for a potential confirmation hearing. It’s not working, and President Trump’s latest remarks aren’t going to help. From the Washington Post:

President Trump on Tuesday attacked the second woman who has accused Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct, dismissing her account because she was “totally inebriated and all messed up,” and accused Democrats of playing a “con game” in an attempt to derail his Supreme Court nominee.

In comments to reporters following a speech at the United Nations, Trump took aim at Deborah Ramirez, a classmate of Kavanaugh’s at Yale University, who told the New Yorker magazine that said he exposed himself to her at a party when they were both first-year students.

“The second accuser has nothing,” Trump told reporters. “She admits that she was drunk.”

The president dismissed the notion that the allegation could be disqualifying, saying sarcastically: “Oh, gee, let’s not make him a Supreme Court judge because of that.” [Pols emphasis]

Trump went on to say that the allegations against Kavanaugh are “a con game being played by the Democrats.”

That “second accuser” mentioned by Trump is Colorado resident Deborah Ramirez. On Monday, Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Denver) joined in calls from other Democrats to halt Kavanaugh’s nomination process until multiple claims of sexual assault can be investigated thoroughly.

Also on Monday, the Republican candidate for Senate in North Dakota — one of the GOP’s best pickup opportunities in 2018 — stuck his foot in his mouth and attempted to swallow his entire leg in commenting on accusations against Kavanaugh. Said Rep. Kevin Cramer: ““Even if it’s all true, does it disqualify him?”

Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Yuma) is the chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) for 2018, so Cramer’s comments are a problem for him, too.

► Brett Kavanaugh and his wife sat down for an interview with Fox News on Monday night in an attempt to revive his fluttering nomination to the Supreme Court. Chris Cillizza of CNN breaks down the most noteworthy moments of that bizarre interview. James Hohmann of the Washington Post wonders if Kavanaugh’s Fox News appearance will ultimately backfire.

Get even more smarter after the jump…

IN CASE YOU ARE STANDING NEAR A WATER COOLER…

► Senate Republicans, including Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, are very, very sad that the nominating process for the latest Supreme Court vacancy isn’t going well for them. McConnell took to the Senate floor on Monday to shake his fist at pretty much everybody — a spectacle that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer found disgraceful. From The Hill:

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Tuesday demanded that Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) apologize to a woman accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault, saying the GOP leader had labeled the allegations a “smear job.”…

…Schumer added that comments McConnell made during a Monday speech were “galling” and that the Senate GOP leader has “done more than maybe anyone to politicize the Supreme Court nomination process.”

South Carolina Sen. Lindsay Graham also made a ridiculous spectacle of himself when he decried the disintegration of the SCOTUS nomination process, conveniently forgetting that it was Senate Republicans who upended the process in 2016 when they literally refused to even hold confirmation hearings for President Obama’s choice for the Supreme Court.

► President Trump is in New York attempting some international diplomacy at the United Nations. As the Washington Post reports, the rest of the world is laughing at him:

“In less than two years, my administration has accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country,” Trump said.

The assembled world leaders gave a bit of an audible response, and Trump was caught off-guard.

“America’s — so true,” he said with a smile.

The buzz at that point became audible laughter.

Trump chuckled and said, “Didn’t expect that reaction, but that’s okay.”

Then more laughter, accompanied by some applause.

The laughter was not 100 percent at Trump’s expense. Some in the audience seemed to genuinely appreciate his quip about being surprised at the response. But the whole thing clearly started with audibly expressed skepticism about one of Trump’s more hyperbolic and fabulist claims. It was, at its core, about Trump making a ridiculous claim.

► A Colorado economist confirms what most people are already understanding: President Trump’s trade wars are really hurting the American economy. As Politico reports, Trump’s trade war is hurting Republican candidates across the country.

► Could a water rights “Compact Call” be in Colorado’s future?

► Why does Brett Kavanaugh still have personal calendars from 1982? This is very weird:

The calendar pages are one-month pages with each day in a small box. Unusual for a teenager, Judge Kavanaugh seemed to keep track of his days even during summer vacation. The pages show typical teenage activities from the era, including “beach week” after the end of the school year and nights at the theater to see “Grease II,” “Rocky III” and “Poltergeist” with friends.

Kavanaugh’s calendar apparently does not list a planned sexual assault in 1982. We have no idea what that proves, either.