Trump's Top 2 Supreme Court Picks Reflect Warring Republican Factions

The internal White House debate over who should replace Justice Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court reflects the broader political split within the Republican Party — and the mistrust that is nursed by outside-the-Beltway social conservatives about the more establishment and business-oriented wing of the party.

So it is perhaps no surprise that a quintessentially Washingtonian fight has erupted between the supporters of the two leading candidates for the Supreme Court nomination, Judge Brett Kavanaugh and Judge Amy Coney Barrett.

While Barrett's supporters portray Kavanaugh as insufficiently conservative, Kavanaugh's supporters portray Barrett as insufficiently experienced — a judge whose conservative credentials are not yet clear in her opinions.

In truth, both are very conservative legal believers who would undoubtedly push the Supreme Court far to the right of where it was during Kennedy's more centrist conservative time on the Supreme Court.

Barrett has a long paper trail of academic writing in the law, but Kavanaugh has a long paper trail of actual legal opinions. Both have written things that Democrats could use against them at confirmation hearings. But what is so interesting to watch is two factions of Republicans, behind the scenes, battling each other, leaking unflattering and even false things about either Kavanaugh or Barrett.

Social conservatives seem to have coalesced behind Barrett, who spent much of her career as