First, let's hit some important top lines from the CNN poll released Monday showing that now-Justice Brett Kavanaugh is indeed supremely unpopular.
- Should Kavanaugh have been confirmed? No: 51 percent; Yes: 41 percent
- Do you believe the female accusers or Kavanaugh? Believe women: 52 percent; Kavanaugh: 38 percent.
- Will Kavanaugh be a partisan justice? Yes: 56 percent; No: 36 percent.
- Do Kavanaugh's professional qualifications outweigh his personal conduct? No: 53 percent; Yes: 37 percent.
- Has his personal conduct disqualified him? Yes: 50 percent; No: 43 percent.
Okay, so most Americans can find absolutely no justification whatsoever for Kavanaugh's existence on the Supreme Court, whatever Sen. Susan Collins may have spewed in support of her "Yea" vote.
Now let's drill down on some numbers that give us a first look at the post-Kavanaugh conventional wisdom that Republican enthusiasm about the midterms is now on a par with that of Democrats.
Those numbers put midterm enthusiasm among voters who opposed Kavanaugh’s confirmation by 51-41 percent definitively higher than among those who supported him.
- Among registered voters NOT in favor of confirmation, 58 percent are "very enthusiastic" to vote.
- Among registered voters who favored confirmation, only 40 percent say they are "very enthusiastic" to vote.
That's the first insight we're getting into whether Republican enthusiasm will continue to match the urgency of Democrats in the countdown to the midterms.
Want to make sure Republicans feel your enthusiasm on Nov. 6? Please give $3 to the effort to put the House back under Democratic control.