WASHINGTON -- U.S. Sens. Tom Cotton and John Boozman supported the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, casting their votes Saturday at what Cotton called "a historic moment."
Cotton, a Republican from Dardanelle, portrayed Saturday as "a good day for now-Justice Kavanaugh and the Senate but a great day for the rule of law, due process and basic fairness and decency."
Boozman predicted that Kavanaugh will excel.
"He's performed excellently in everything that he's done so I believe he will make an outstanding Supreme Court judge," the Republican from Rogers said.
Neither senator liked what they saw during the lead-up to Saturday's roll call vote.
"It was very sad that the Democrats engaged in an orchestrated smear campaign against [Kavanaugh]. It continued today," Cotton said. "You saw the kind of mob frenzy they whipped up in the gallery with protesters yelling and violating the rules of the Senate and having to be handcuffed and marched out."
Cotton said the Democratic attacks were worse than those launched by U.S. Sen. Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin in the 1950s.
"They engaged in something more like the Stalinist show trials of the 1930s, subordinating the facts and truth to the greater good of their own party," he said. "It was a very important moment that we defeated a crazed attempt to impose mob rule on the Senate."
Boozman expressed relief at the outcome.
"I'm glad to have this over with," he said.
Given the tensions in the Senate gallery and elsewhere on Capitol Hill, Boozman said he had worried about people's safety.
"When you get into a situation where there is disagreement, the solution to that is not to get into people's face, try to intimidate them, yell at them, things like that. I think that method totally backfired over the past week or two and so hopefully that won't be the situation as we go forward," he said.
Boozman said relationships in the closely divided Senate have been strained by the recent "volatility."
"With us only having 100 members, about 50 on each side, it really is a fairly tightknit place," he said.
"I think the collegiality has been damaged, and most of the things we get done in the Senate are based on relationships," he said. "We're going to have to move forward, and I think, over a period of time, that will be repaired."
Both Arkansans stayed away from the Senate floor during much of Saturday's debate. Cotton caught up on some work. Boozman tuned in to part of the Arkansas-Alabama football game. ("It was grim," he said, summing up the game.)
Neither Arkansan participated in Saturday's hours of oratory.
"This has been going on for several months now and over the course of the time I've spoken on occasion about Judge Kavanaugh, so I really didn't feel like it was necessary. I think everyone understood where I was at on the issue," Boozman said.
Cotton was happy to yield the remaining time to others.
"Many of my colleagues had long speeches to give, and I felt I had said all that needed to be said on many occasions in many forums," he said.
Kavanaugh's nomination was opposed by more than 2,400 law professors, including at least 14 from Arkansas. In a letter published online by The New York Times last week, they argued that Kavanaugh lacked the judicial temperament necessary to serve on the bench, citing his recent partisan testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
After Saturday's vote, a former Southern Baptist Convention president, the Rev. Ronnie Floyd, issued a written statement urging Americans to come together.
"Whatever your inclination on the whole issue -- whether Judge Kavanaugh should or should not have been confirmed to the Supreme Court -- our infighting has left America worse off than it was before. Once again, we are more divided, more hurt, more tribalized and more cynical," he said. "When our opinions become more important than people, we all lose."
Floyd, who pastors Cross Church in Northwest Arkansas, urged Americans to "pray earnestly for unity and work intentionally toward reconciliation."
A Section on 10/07/2018