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Guest column/Kavanaugh a superb pick for Supreme Court

Soon after Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement, President Donald Trump stepped up to fill the vacancy with a superb nomination for the bench: Judge Brett Kavanaugh.

Despite Judge Kavanaugh’s stellar credentials, Democrats across the country jumped at the opportunity to oppose another nominee — even before they knew his name.

Kavanaugh has a long record of fighting for the rights of the American people, including in his current role on the D.C. Circuit Court. He is a thoughtful, mainstream jurist who defends the Constitution and respects the rule of law.

He is widely respected on both sides of the aisle and is, without question, the best candidate for the job.

Ignoring these qualifications, some Democrats have surrendered to the far left of their party, calling for Kavanaugh’s confirmation vote to be delayed until after this year’s midterm elections. But the same hypocritical Democrats used to say that delaying such a vote is irresponsible and harmful to Americans and to the highest court in the land. Ohio’s own Sen. Sherrod Brown has put partisan politics ahead of Ohioans by first delaying a meeting with Kavanaugh and then announcing his opposition — falling in line with party leaders like Sens. Chuck Schumer of New York and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.

Unfortunately, the Democrats’ behavior is par for the course for their party today. They have adopted a strategy of blind resistance and obstruction against President Trump’s agenda and all of his qualified nominees, with no regard to the future of our country. Democrats are not working for the American people; they are playing partisan games and trying to undermine the Trump administration at every turn.

Despite being a vulnerable Democrat in a red state, Brown has shown he is not willing to work with the Trump administration to get things done for the American people. Last year, he opposed President Trump’s first Supreme Court nominee, Justice Neil Gorsuch only after 11 minutes! However, the majority of Ohioans who stood with Trump in 2016 and supported Gorsuch for the bench now want to see Kavanaugh confirmed to the Supreme Court.

The hard-working people of Ohio deserve a Supreme Court justice who will fight for their constitutional rights. They deserve Brett Kavanaugh. Ohioans will watch Brown’s vote to see whether he stands with them or against them.

Those same voters will go to the polls in November to elect Brown’s challenger, Rep. Jim Renacci, to the Senate, knowing he will support Trump’s agenda and fight for his constituents. Ohioans will send home Brown, who continues to stand in the way of their president — and their interests.

(Paduchik, a resident of Delaware, Ohio, is co-chair of the Republican National Committee. He served as the Ohio state director for the Trump-Pence presidential campaign and was the campaign manager for Sen. Rob Portman’s successful campaign for U.S. Senate in 2010.)

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