30 September 2018

Anatomy of a Flip

Early Friday morning, Republican Senator Jeff Flake announced that he would vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. And that's where things turned very interesting.

Shortly thereafter, two angry but articulate sexual violence survivors cornered Flake in a Senate elevator (details here). Flake was cordial but very uncomfortable.

Flash forward a bit. Flake arrives at the Judiciary Committee meeting looking like a man with painful crotch infection. He says nothing in the hearing and then leaves in the middle of proceedings (details here).

He's followed out by one Democratic Senator. And then another. And then another. Time passes.

Flake finally returns after ninety minutes to announce he'll vote but only after the count is delayed a week so the FBI can investigate. Republicans are pissed but can do nothing. Democrats are thrilled. They rolled Flake and won.

This teaches us two important lessons. First is how two people managed to make a U.S. Senator change his stance. Those women in the elevator are national heroes.

The second lesson is how you always look to flip the weakest link. The Democrats on the Judiciary Committee knew Flake could be a get. So they worked him and worked him and worked him. He caved. Victory.

Never give up until it's all over. Because you can snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

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