The problem is, the Dems' hopes in the Senate & some House seats were always predicated on winning over people who are moderate Trump supporters. The Kavanaugh debate has polarized everything and for 3 weeks, charged everything up with a divisive social issue that clearly cleaves Trump supporters from Democrats.
There's a kernel of truth in here. Obviously the people we call "Trump supporters" (supporters, not lukewarm 2016 voters) were always going to stick with Trump no matter how the Kavanaugh hearings went down. This might get some to turn out who were otherwise staying home, but I think that effect will be small.
The real effect here will be felt through the lukewarm/reluctant 2016 voters and independents. Even though I think it's a dumb argument, messaging and spin-doctors have framed the Kavanaugh hearing as the Democrats being gripped by radical feminists and abandoning due process. This image I think is potent enough to get some of these voters who were never hardcore Trumpers to begin with and were considering voting Democratic opposition to take a step back and either stay home or consider voting R again.
No one is talking about the deficit, no one is talking health care, no one is talking education, no one is talking wages -- at least not nationally. In 1994 the Republicans had the 'Contract with America'; in 2006 there as the Iraq war; in 2010 unemployment was at 10%. What's the opposition message this time? There's no room to talk anything, it's all Kavanaugh #MeToo Kavanaugh #MeToo 24/7, drowns out everything.
Can people stop doing this? Nobody is campaigning solely on Me Too. Nobody. It's a veiled sexist attack that women are only capable of campaigning on women's issues. Anyone who says the Democrats haven't been campaigning on health care isn't paying any attention. The major fight within the party right now is how to handle health policy and it's a clear and decisive victory for the Medicare for All crowd. The party is also focusing on efforts like child care/children's health care, parental leave and funding teachers/schools.
This same attack was trotted out against Danica Roem in 2017, because "muh transperson" couldn't
possibly campaign on anything other than her gender. Of course, this narrative was blatantly false, and Roem won a campaign mainly by focusing on transit of all issues.
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