Pro-Kavanaugh Supporters Devastate Protesters at Their Own Game
A cloture vote was held in the Senate on Friday morning to advance the nomination of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh toward a final confirmation vote, and Democratic West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin joined with nearly all of the Republicans — except for Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski — to vote “yes” on the procedural move.
A short time later in the day, following a floor speech by Republican Maine Sen. Susan Collins to announce that she would vote “yes” in the final confirmation vote for Kavanaugh, Manchin told reporters that he would be a “yes” in that final vote as well.
Throughout the week, Capitol Hill has been swarmed by protesters both for and against the nominee, though the anti-Kavanaugh protesters certainly have garnered the bulk of the media’s attention. The dueling protesters were definitely in action at key points and locations during the proceedings Friday.
One such location was Manchin’s office, where pro-Kavanaugh protesters managed to beat their leftist counterparts at their own game.
As seen in video shared by The Daily Caller, they shouted the liberals down with a loud chorus of “Thank you, Senator Manchin!” that completely overwhelmed a few weak cries of “shame” from the anti-Kavanaugh group.
The left has seemingly enjoyed a monopoly on organized protests over the past two years, protests that are often characterized by repetitive chants that are used to shout down, silence, intimidate and overwhelm the typically isolated target of the protesters.
It would seem that, at least in this instance, conservatives borrowed a tactic from the leftist playbook and used it to great effect in supporting Manchin.
It is unclear if the episode in senator’s office came after his initial “yes” vote on cloture, or if it occurred after Manchin informed reporters that he’d also vote “yes” on Kavanaugh’s confirmation. It’s also unknown if the senator was even present in the office to hear the protesters.
Nor is it clear if that incident occurred before, after or at the same time as Manchin himself was completely shouted down by angry liberal protesters who were absolutely aghast at his stated intentions to confirm Kavanaugh.
Protesters chanted, "Shame! Shame!" as Sen. Joe Manchin spoke to reporters after announcing support for Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court confirmation.
Manchin spoke with his eyes averted, and protesters responded with chants of, "Look at us, look at us!" https://t.co/KcttBKuB4Q pic.twitter.com/7MQnGau9tV
— CNN (@CNN) October 5, 2018
As Manchin attempted to explain to reporters in a hallway after Collins’ speech why he was voting to confirm Kavanaugh, his words were almost completely drowned out by repeated shouts of “Shame!” “Shame on you!” and “Look at us!” from the anti-Kavanaugh protesters.
Nevertheless, in spite of the tension and palpable anger from the protesters, Manchin gamely attempted to listen to and answer questions from reporters for some four minutes, all the while being shouted at.
It is also worth noting that angry liberal protesters haven’t confined themselves solely to chasing down and harassing members of Congress on Capitol Hill, as several protesters were arrested after they invaded the re-election campaign office of Manchin in Charleston, West Virginia.
WSAZ-TV reported that nine protesters in all were arrested Tuesday at the Charleston office and charged with trespassing after they refused to obey an order to vacate the premises by police.
Some 17 women had camped out at Manchin’s campaign office Monday to demand he vote “no” on Kavanaugh, with some of those women vowing to remain encamped overnight. At some point after midnight, the protesters were ordered to leave, and while some did disperse, nine refused and were arrested for trespassing.
Liberals may think that these loud and obnoxious protests are helping their cause — and they very well might be, among the far-left base of the Democratic Party. But they are also serving to ignite a conservative GOP base that has simply had enough of the nonsense, who no longer plan to tolerate it and who fully intend to show up in droves at the polls on Election Day … when they aren’t otherwise engaged in now countering liberal protesters with their own tactics, that is.
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