GOP now on the offensive in several Senate races, could expand majority even if House flips

On Wednesday, Martha talks to politically knowledgeable Chris Stirewalt about the upcoming elections and how the midterms are shaking out so far across the country, along with a small update on how things are faring in the South with Hurricane Michael, as Melania weighs in on #metoo.

With less than a month until the midterm elections, Republicans are now going on the offensive in several Senate races as part of a reinvigorated effort not only to hold onto their slim majority in the upper chamber but to expand it significantly.
Meanwhile, analysts are warning that Democrats, who extensively focused in recent months on longshot bids to derail Republican candidates in reliably red states, may have neglected critical Midwest battleground states in a miscalculation reminiscent of the 2016 presidential election.
Three pivotal Senate races have shifted in the GOP's favor in Fox News' latest Power Rankings, with Texas and North Dakota now considered likely Republican wins, and Tennessee changing from a toss-up to the lean-Republican column.
In Texas, a new Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday shows Democratic Rep. Beto O'Rourke trailing incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz by 9 points. "Senator Cruz would have to suffer a major collapse for him to lose" his Senate seat, said Peter Brown, the poll's assistant director.
FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS: PUMP UP THE VOLUME AS MIDTERMS APPROACH
Those results mirror a Quinnipiac poll from several weeks ago, suggesting that O'Rourke's momentum has flatlined.

"Sen. Cruz would have to suffer a major collapse for him to lose."
— Quinnipiac University poll director Peter Brown

And in another high-profile race, Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., has surged to a double-digit lead over challenger Phil Bredesen, according to an in-progress New York Times poll. A CBS News poll last week showed Blackburn leading Bredesen by 8 points.
Bredesen last week secured the endorsement of music superstar Taylor Swift, who said Blackburn's voting records "appalls and terrifies" her. Bredesen broke with his fellow Democrats and voiced support for then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh as a series of uncorroborated sexual misconduct allegations were leveled against him.
Several campaign volunteers abandoned Bredesen after he announced his position on Kavanaugh, Politico reported Wednesday.
“As a woman voter in Tennessee, I felt torpedoed by the statement,” one organizer in Memphis, Rhonda McDowell, told the outlet.
Retiring Republican Sen. Bob Corker, who holds the seat Bredesen and Blackburn are seeking, last week told Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., that Democrats' scorched-earth tactics on Kavanaugh had badly damaged Bredesen, who needs conservative support to prevail in Tennessee.
Analysts say that Democrats' faltering bids to retake two seats in traditionally red states has parallels to the 2016 presidential race, when breathless news reports suggested Hillary Clinton had a chance at winning Texas.
"Liberal activists and online media [are] touting Democratic chances and paying more attention to stretch cases like Texas and Tennessee, when the Democrats need to protect vulnerable incumbents in states like Missouri and Indiana," Michigan State University political science professor Matt Grossman told Fox News.
GOP ENTHUSIASM SURGES AMID KAVANAUGH SLUGFEST, BOOSTING REPUBLICANS ACROSS THE BOARD
"That reminded me of talks about possible Democratic wins in Arizona, Georiga, and Texas in 2016, when Clinton had to protect the Midwest states," he added.
Fox News ranks the Senate races in Indiana and Missouri as toss-ups, as vulnerable incumbent Democratic Sens. Joe Donnelly and Claire McCaskill, respectively, try to fend off challengers in states President Trump won by double-digits in 2016. Both voted against Kavanaugh, which has become a central issue in both contests.
The Kavanaugh effect appears to have had the biggest effect on another vulnerable incumbent Democrat, North Dakota's Heidi Heitkamp. She trails Republican challenger Kevin Cramer by 12 points. Last month, before Heitkamp voiced her reluctance to support Kavanaugh, he was up by only 4 points.
HEITKAMP SLAMS HILLARY FOR 'RIDICULOUS' CLAIM THAT CIVILITY IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOP
“That spectacle proved to be perhaps the greatest political gift I’ve been given in a very long time,” Cramer said.

"The most recent polling suggests it’s going to be a tale of two elections."
— Republican strategist Bruce Mehlman

And a new poll in another red state, West Virginia, shows incumbent Democrat Joe Manchin leading Attorney General Patrick Morrisey by just one point. But the poll, which was commissioned by national Republicans and the Morrisey campaign, is an outlier.
Manchin's last-minute support for Kavanaugh, who is highly popular in West Virginia, has become a key issue in the campaign, with Morrisey calling Manchin's vote a "craven political calculation."
Speaking exclusively to Fox News Wednesday night, President Trump said Republican candidates are moving to take advantage of the encouraging numbers.
“The fact is I think we are doing really well,” Trump said. “Many of the Senate races that we didn’t think we were going to be contesting, we are now leading. We have some great candidates. And, very importantly, we are finding the same thing now with the House.”
Grossman, who also directs Michigan State's Institute for Public Policy and Social Research, cited an additional challenge for moderate senators like Heitkamp and Manchin who often buck their party: Congressional races are increasingly becoming nationalized. He cited a variety of factors to explain that trend, including greater interest in national media sources, President Trump's larger-than-life profile, and more cohesive top-down party messaging.
While indicators are strong for Republicans in the Senate, the map is also working in the GOP's favor. There are nine Senate seats currently held by Democrats in states that went for Trump in 2016 but just one Republican incumbent running in a state carried by Clinton.
That state, Nevada, is home to a tight race that Fox News currently considers a toss-up, as incumbent Sen. Dean Heller faces off against Jacky Rosen. And a state that Trump carried in 2016, Arizona, is also considered a toss-up, as Democrat Kyrsten Sinema has polled narrowly ahead of Republican Martha McSally to replace outgoing Republican Sen. Jeff Flake.
Meanwhile, in the House, where all seats are up for grabs, signs are less favorable for the GOP. A new poll from Quinnipiac University showed that 49 percent of voters preferred that the Democrats take back Congress, compared with 42 percent for Republicans.
“The most recent polling suggests it’s going to be a tale of two elections, with center-left voters powering Democratic gains in the House and center-right voters expanding Republicans’ Senate majority," Republican strategist Bruce Mehlman told Fox News.
ANALYSIS: WHAT TO EXPECT AS MIDTERM CHAOS CONTINUES
Mehlman pointed to other signs of a possible impending "blue wave" in the House. For example, Trump's approval rating is roughly consistent with that of other presidents' in recent decades when their party saw major losses in Congress. Presidents with higher approval ratings tend to see their party retain more seats.
Still, there were some signs of resurgence this week for Republicans in the House, as well.  Florida’s highly competitive 27th Congressional District, which Clinton won by a 20-point margin over Trump in 2016, had been considered one of the easiest seats in the country for Democrats to pick up just months ago.
But the race to replace retiring Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen is now only a "Lean Democrat" race according to Fox News' latest Midterm Power Rankings. Donna Shalala, the Democratic candidate, is facing a spirited challenge from her lesser-known GOP opponent, Spanish-language journalist and political rookie, Maria Elvira Salazar.
“This will be the marker for, if and possibly when, the Democrats might pick up the House for the 2018 elections,” said Florida International University political science professor Kathryn DePalo. “If Democrats pick this up, then I think it’ll be a good night for Democrats in Florida and perhaps around the country.”
In a statement to Fox News, a spokesperson for the National Republican Congressional Committee was bullish on the district: "In a district that Clinton won by 20 points, this is shaping up to be a devastating loss for Democrats.”
Fox News' Chris Stirewalt and Allie Raffa contributed to this report.

Arizona Senate hopeful Sinema implied state produced 'crazy' in 2011 speech

Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., who is running in a tightly contested U.S. Senate race, implied that her home state produced "crazy" in a 2011 speech in which she also promised to advise liberal activists on how to "stop your state from becoming Arizona."
Some critics are comparing the remarks to Hillary Clinton's infamous comment about Trump supporters being "deplorables."
An edited version of Sinema's speech to the Texas Stonewall Democratic Caucus, a Democratic LGBT group in the Lone Star State, was posted on Twitter on Thursday by the Reagan Battalion, an anonymous conservative group. A longer version of the speech is available on YouTube.
In the speech, Sinema recounts how she was taught at a young age that Arizona was known for "five Cs: cattle, copper, citrus, cotton and climate."
"But I would add a sixth 'C,'" added Sinema, then an Arizona state senator. "It's called crazy."
Sinema, a one-time Green Party activist, has fashioned herself as a moderate willing to work with both parties in her contest against fellow U.S. Rep. Martha McSally. The race winner will fill the Senate seat vacated by the retiring Republican Jeff Flake.
SINEMA PROMOTED EVENTS FEATURING CONVICTED TERROR LAWYER
"Calling Arizonans crazy and having particular disdain for Republicans when she wants Republicans to vote for her is unbelievable," McSally told reporters at a roundtable with business leaders and Gov. Doug Ducey. "And Arizonans need to know about it."
Sinema's "crazy" comment also drew criticism on social media.
"HEY ARIZONA VOTERS," one Twitter user wrote. "Arizona Senate hopeful Sinema has 'DEPLORABLE' moment... implied state produced 'crazy' in 2011 speech."
"(D)o everyone a favor don’t vote for Democrats!" another wrote. "Hillary started this by calling Trump supporters deplorable‘s."
Sinema's campaign issued a response to the posting of the speech.
"She was frustrated that no one in the state legislature was standing up to out-of-state special interests working to take away health care from children, make tuition more expensive, and take job security away from working families," Sinema spokeswoman Helen Hare said in a statement Thursday. "Kyrsten was born here, and will always stand up to outside special interest groups to protect and defend Arizonans."
Sinema gave her speech after Arizona Republicans had passed SB1070, a controversial immigration law that led to nationwide boycotts and concern even among some Arizona Republicans that the Legislature had moved too far right. Those concerns led to a recall against the then-Senate President Russell Pearce, whom Sinema blamed in her remarks for much of the discord. She accused Pearce of was carrying hardline immigration bills and other conservative legislation on abortion and health care at the behest of racist anti-immigrant groups and a corporate-backed conservative organization that writes "model legislation" for state lawmakers.
"There's something wrong with the people in public office in Arizona," Sinema said. "People are saying the tea party, the tea party. Those people have been in charge 20 years in Arizona. They're called Republicans."
A Fox News poll taken last month showed Sinema with a two-point lead over McSally, 47 percent to 45 percent. Sinema led McSally by nine points among women, 14 points among voters under age 45 and by 29 points among Hispanic voters.

Eric Holder Cartoons

Trump unloads on Sen. Bob Casey at fiery Pennsylvania rally: 'He's banking on the name of his father'

At a fiery rally in Erie, Pennsylvania on Wednesday night, President Trump unloaded a series of broadsides on two-term Sen. Bob Casey, characterizing him as a pale shadow of his late father who values illegal immigrants more than U.S. citizens.
Trump also reiterated his commitment to the state's coal industry and promised immediate support to Floridians impacted by Hurricane Michael.
Trump opened the rally by saying that "all of Pennsylvania, and all of America sends its unwavering love and support" to those in the path of the hurricane. Offering his "thoughts and prayers," he vowed that "we will spare no expense" to address the storm, and that he'd traveling to Florida "very, very shortly."
"We are unleashing the power ... of clean, beautiful Pennsylvania coal," Trump said to applause, after touting the economic growth under his administration. "We are putting our miners back to work. We are putting our steelworkers back to work."
Trump has made several visits to Pennsylvania since becoming the first Republican presidential candidate to carry the far-left state since George H.W. Bush in 1988. He was stumping for Republican Reps. Mike Kelly, Glenn "GT" Thompson, and Lou Barletta, among others, as well as gubernatorial candidate Scott Wagner.
"The best thing I can say about Scott Wagner is he has the endorsement of Judge Jeanine," Trump said, referring to Fox News host Jeanine Pirro. He acknowledged that Wagner, who is far behind in the polls, is up against a "tough" opponent.
Kelly is facing a challenge from Democrat Ron DiNicola, while Barletta is mounting an uphill campaign to unseat two-term Democratic Sen. Bob Casey.
"While Lou is fighting for you, Bob Casey is fighting to protect violent criminal aliens," Trump said Wednesday, to loud boos. "Bob Casey voted in favor of deadly sanctuary cities that release thousands upon thousands of illegal alien criminals and vicious gang members to prey on Pennsylvania's streets. No good."
"Bob Casey even voted against Kate's Law, named for Kate Steinle, who was gunned down by a five-time-deported illegal alien who should never have been in our country," Trump said. The legislation, which is stalled in the Senate, would hike the penalties for illegal immigrants who attempt to re-enter the country. Casey has opposed it, saying the best solution is to focus on securing the border.
"Bob Casey puts criminal aliens ahead of U.S. citizens. Always has. ... He's banking on the name of his father," Trump said. Casey's father, who died in 2000, previously served as the state's governor from 1987 to 1995.
Trump has long attacked Casey. At a rally in Pennsylvania in August, Trump mocked Casey as "Sleepin' Bob" and said the longtime Democratic senator was a truant who is "so overrated."

"He's banking on the name of his father."
— President Trump on Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa.

"I'm not sure I ever met Bob Casey," Trump said. "Now, his father was a good man. Knew him a little bit. But we're dealing with a totally different person. I don't know this man."
"He's not an obstructionist, he's worse: He will do whatever Schumer, Pelosi, and the new star of the Democrat Party tells him to do," Trump said, referring to Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif. "Very low IQ," Trump added.
WATCH: ERIC HOLDER URGES DEMOCRATS TO FIGHT BACK AGAINST REPUBLICANS: 'WHEN THEY GO LOW, KICK 'EM'
Staring down tough midterm elections, the president and top Republicans have sought to characterize mob tactics as a hallmark of modern progressivism, in the wake of comments by Waters encouraging protesters to confront and "push back on" White House officials in public places. Trump has often mockingly called Waters a "leader" of the Democratic Party, even as he said her IQ hovers in the mid-60s.
In recent weeks, liberal fury over the nomination and eventual confirmation of Associate Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh reached a tipping point, with groups of demonstrators shouting at senators on Capitol Hill and even attempting to claw their way inside the Supreme Court building. Protesters also chased Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and his wife out of a restaurant, and activists have sent death threats to Kavanaugh and top Republicans.
Trump on Wednesday night called Democrats' behavior a "disgrace" and said he "never even thought" about abandoning Kavanaugh in the face of several uncorroborated sexual misconduct allegations. He also took a shot at the so-called #MeToo movement that opposed Kavanaugh, implying that its proponents are so politically correct that they would insist on the gender-neutral phrase "the person that got away."
RADICAL PROTESTERS CHASE TED CRUZ, WIFE OUT OF RESTAURANT, CHANTING 'BELIEVE ALL WOMEN'
Trump also published an op-ed in USA Today that attacked Democrats over "Medicare for All" health care proposals. In his op-ed, Trump said Democrats have moved away from centrism, claiming the "new Democrats are radical socialists who want to model America's economy after Venezuela."
Before he flew to Erie, Trump said he faced a lose-lose "quagmire" because of the timing of the hurricane. Last month, the White House canceled rallies in Mississippi and Missouri because of Hurricane Florence, which hit the Carolinas.
The president's rallies have increasingly given him a platform to test-fire new attacks against high-profile Democratic rivals, as well as to introduce new policies.
At a rally Tuesday night in Iowa, Trump announced that he would remove a federal ban on summer sales of gasoline with high-ethanol blends, permitting year-round sales of gasoline with 15 percent ethanol or E15.
FOX NEWS POLLS SHOW KAVANAUGH SLUGFEST BOOSTING GOP IN KEY SENATE RACES
"We’re going with E15 year-round. I made that promise to you during the campaign. I made that promise to you during the primaries," he said. "Promises made, promises kept."
The long-expected announcement is something of a reward to Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, who as Senate Judiciary Committee chairman led a contentious but successful fight to confirm Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. The veteran Republican lawmaker is the Senate's leading ethanol proponent and sharply criticized the Trump administration's proposed rollback in ethanol volumes earlier this year.
At the rally Wednesday, Trump again mocked Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., for her denial last week that she had anything to do with the leak of Christine Blasey Ford's letter accusing Kavanaugh of sexual assault.
Ford, who sent the letter to Feinstein's office in July, publicly revealed herself just days before a planned Judiciary Committee vote on Kavanaugh's confirmation when news of her letter leaked to The Intercept. Senate Republicans have strongly implied that, because no Republicans had access to the letter, Feinstein or a member of her staff was involved in the leak.
JUDICIARY CMTE CHAIRMAN CONDEMNS FEINSTEIN'S HANDLING OF FORD LETTER: 'I CANNOT OVERSTATE HOW DISAPPOINTED I AM'
As Trump imitated Feinstein's denial in Iowa on Tuesday, the crowd chanted, "Lock her up,"  a phrase that Trump supporters previously applied almost exclusively to former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
For her part, Feinstein, the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, suggested that one of Ford's friends had leaked information about the letter. She also, in no uncertain terms, condemned Trump's rhetoric.
"Dr. Blasey Ford knows I kept her confidence, she and her lawyers said so repeatedly," Feinstein said Wednesday. "Republican senators admit it. Even the reporter who broke the story said it wasn't me or my staff. The president's remarks are ridiculous and an embarrassment."
Trump is scheduled to attend another rally Friday evening in Ohio and on Saturday evening in Kentucky.
Fox News' Brooke Singman and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Biden not planning 2020 run 'at this point,' but bitter feud with Trump continues

Former Vice President Joe Biden on Wednesday pointedly refused to rule out a presidential run in 2020, telling an audience in London only that he has no plans "at this point" to take his war of words with President Trump to the voters.
"I think there are many people in the Democratic Party that can defeat Trump and not a single aspiring candidate that I can think of for the nomination -- and I am not one at this point -- does not have a better understanding and formulation of American foreign policy than President Trump," Biden said at the Royal Institute of International Affairs, a think tank commonly known as Chatham House.
He continued: "I'm not being rankly partisan here -- the president acknowledged at the outset he didn't know a lot about foreign policy. ... I think there are any number of potential candidates seeking the nomination, from [Sen.] Kamala Harris [D-Calif.] to a whole range of people in my party, who would pursue a much more enlightened foreign policy than the president."
WATCH: ERIC HOLDER REJECTS MICHELLE OBAMA'S CALL FOR CIVILITY: 'WHEN THEY GO LOW, WE KICK 'EM'
The 75-year-old Biden, who would be the oldest living president at 79 if he took office in January 2021, has been unrelenting critic of the Trump administration. Earlier this year, Biden vowed that he would have "beat[en] the hell out of" Trump in high school because of the Republican's boasts about women in the leaked "Access Hollywood" tape.
RAND PAUL WARNS OF 'ASSASSINATION' IN D.C. AS LIBERAL RHETORIC BECOMES INCREASINGLY HEATED
This summer, Biden panned the family separations resulting from the White House's "zero-tolerance" policy on illegal immigrants as "one of the darkest moments in our history." And in September, Biden openly mocked Trump's claims about his own intelligence.
For his part, Trump -- who often uses his campaign-style rallies to test-fire new broadsides against potential 2020 rivals -- has hit back at Biden's physical and mental prowess, saying it would be no trouble at all to rough up the former vice president.
“Remember, he challenged me to a fight," Trump said last week at a rally in Kansas. "'I’d like to take him behind the barn.’ I’d love that. That wouldn’t last long. That would not last long. That wouldn’t last long,” Trump told the crowd. Then, after imitating a punch, he continued: "He's down, and he'll never get up."
Trump has also variously called Biden "crazy" and "sleepy," referring to videos apparently showing Biden falling asleep during speeches.
Owing to what he said was rising anti-Trump sentiment, the former vice president on Wednesday was bullish on Democrats' chances in the upcoming midterm elections in November. He predicted that progressive candidates could realistically take back not only the House, but also the Senate --  where the 35 seats up for election are in GOP-leaning states.
FOX NEWS POLLS SHOW KAVANAUGH SLUGFEST BOOSTING GOP ENTHUSIASM IN KEY SENATE RACES
"I predict to you the Democrats will win 40 seats in the House. And I predict to you there's a slightly better than even chance we win the Senate," Biden said.
Political headwinds normally work against the party of incumbent presidents in their first midterm elections. According to an analysis by former George W. Bush administration official Bruce Mehlman, in the past 11 such midterm seasons, new presidents saw their party make net gains only once in the House, four times in the Senate and zero times in state gubernatorial contests.
However, Fox News battleground polls released last week show a marked increase in Republican voter enthusiasm in the wake of the heated and bitterly partisan confirmation battle over Supreme Court Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
JOE BIDEN'S NIECE SENTENCED IN $110K CREDIT CARD CASE
That enthusiasm has strengthened Republicans' already-strong odds of retaining control of the Senate, even as the House remains contentious.
"President Trump is the only president — and I've been there for nine now — who when things are going very well in terms of the economy, his numbers aren’t going up," Biden said Wednesday.
Still, poll numbers for Republican Senate candidates have become significantly more favorable. Compared with early September, the number of Republican voters feeling “extremely” interested in the upcoming election is up by 2 points in Arizona, up by 9 points in Indiana, up 8 points in both Missouri and North Dakota, and up 11 points in Tennessee. In each state, Republicans are now just as likely as Democrats to say they are extremely interested -- erasing an edge Democrats had in several states last month.
"The fight over Judge Kavanaugh is increasing base intensity for both parties, helping Democrats with white college-educated women in suburban House districts while bolstering Republicans among evangelical voters in the many rural red state Senate contests," Mehlman told Fox News.
Biden, who has repeatedly refused to rule out a 2020 presidential run in the past year, was briefly considered a possible challenger to Trump during the 2016 campaign. However, he ultimately decided to back eventual nominee Hillary Clinton, saying it would have been taxing to mount a campaign so soon after the 2015 death of his 46-year-old son Beau.

Jeb Bush wasn’t invited to Barbara’s surprise wedding

The daughter to George and Laura Bush got hitched in a secret, private ceremony in Maine. Here’s a look at some of the special moments with the happy couple.

Jeb Bush wasn’t invited to niece Barbara Bush’s surprise weekend wedding, it was revealed Wednesday.
Former first lady Laura Bush said the former Florida governor and failed presidential candidate didn’t make the cut for the small-scale, and short notice, Oct. 7 nuptials — in which her eldest daughter with former President George W. Bush married actor Craig Coyne.
“Well, I think Barbara just kept it a secret, plus so few people were invited,” the former FLOTUS told journalist Cokie Roberts, who interviewed her on stage at an event in Washington, DC.
“It was just our family and Craig’s family. And we didn’t invite Jeb, or Neil, or any of those Bushes.”
President George W. Bush’s sister, Dorothy Bush Koch, did make the cut – as she served as the couple’s officiant.
The 36-year-old bride chose the family home so her 94-year-old grandfather, former President George H.W. Bush, could be there.
“And so we had a wedding outside, looking at the ocean. And then we went in and had dinner at the dining room table, there were 20 of us at the dining room table,” Laura Bush said. “So it was just perfect. It was Barbara and Craig, her new husband – who we like a lot. And his family and our family.”
Twin sister Jenna Bush Hager’s older daughter Mila was a flower girl, as was Coyne’s niece Emma.
Laura Bush also revealed that Poppy, Jenna Bush Hager’s 3-year-old daughter, played the part of ring bearer.
She “was very proud of being a ring bearer. Of course, the box was empty because they knew that she couldn’t have the ring so Craig had it in his pocket,” Laura Bush described.
“So during the entire ceremony she walked around with the ring box,” Laura Bush said.

Dem senator Heitkamp slams Clinton call to abandon civility with GOP

Lock Her Up!

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's incendiary suggestion this week that liberals "cannot be civil" with Republicans any longer is unproductive and simply "ridiculous," a top Democratic senator said Wednesday.
The stark repudiation of Clinton's comments by Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., a vulnerable red-state Democrat seeking re-election this year, comes as Republicans have lined up in recent days to criticize Democrats' fiery rhetoric amid the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.
“You cannot be civil with a political party that wants to destroy what you stand for, what you care about,” Clinton told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour on Tuesday. “That’s why I believe, if we are fortunate enough to win back the House and/or the Senate, that’s when civility can start again. But until then, the only thing Republicans seem to recognize and respect is strength.”
WATCH: ERIC HOLDER TELLS DEMS, 'WHEN THEY GO LOW, WE KICK 'EM'
Heitkamp, whose "no" vote on Kavanaugh seemingly caused her already-wavering popularity to plummet in North Dakota, minced no words in response Wednesday night.
"That's ridiculous," Heitkamp said on CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360." "I mean, I can't imagine how you get anything done if you don't bring civility back into politics, and that goes for both sides."
"I hope that we can find common ground in this country that sexual assault is more prominent than people thought it was," Heitkamp continued.
Fox News' polling shows Republican challenger Kevin Cramer now leading Heitkamp by 12 points (53 percent to 41 percent). Last month, before Heitkamp voiced her reluctance to support Kavanaugh, he was up by only 4 points.

"That's ridiculous. ... I hope that we can find common ground."
— Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D.

“That spectacle proved to be perhaps the greatest political gift I’ve been given in a very long time,” Cramer said. Heitkamp has said she was leaning toward voting for Kavanaugh until she re-watched his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee last month with the sound off, and analyzed his "body language."
President Trump enjoys a 64 percent approval rating in North Dakota, but part of the Democratic plan to keep Heitkamp’s seat is to exploit uncertainty over agricultural tariffs favored by the White House. Republicans are looking to take the seat to expand their narrow 51-49 majority in the Senate.
Senior Republican strategists and politicians lined up to echo Heitkamp's sentiment on civility this week, which could help her regain some standing among conservatives with less than a month before November's midterm elections.
Speaking on "Fox & Friends," White House adviser Kellyanne Conway called Clinton's comments "dangerous."
OPINION: RNC CHAIRWOMAN ASKS IF ERIC HOLDER'S CALL TO 'KICK' REPUBLICANS IS LEFT'S NEW NORMAL
Protests outside the Supreme Court on Tuesday, the first day Kavanaugh publicly sat on the bench for oral arguments, were relatively sparse. On Saturday, when Kavanaugh was formally sworn in, demonstrators outside banged on the Supreme Court's doors and attempted to claw their way inside.
Hundreds of protesters have been arrested by Capitol Police in the past three weeks, with some briefly staying in jail. Kavanaugh, his family, his accusers and lawmakers all received death threats.
Meanwhile, Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul, who last year was beaten in his yard and shot at while participating in a GOP congressional baseball practice, blamed Democrats for potentially inciting violence.
WATCH: TED CRUZ, WIFE CHASED OUT OF D.C. RESTAURANT BY MOB CHANTING 'WE BELIEVE SURVIVORS'
"I fear that there's going to be an assassination," Paul told a Kentucky radio show on Tuesday. "I really worry that somebody is going to be killed, and that those who are ratcheting up the conversation ... they have to realize they bear some responsibility if this elevates to violence."
He continued: "When I was at the ballfield and Steve Scalise was nearly killed, the guy shooting up the ballfield, and shooting I think five or six people, he was yelling, 'This is for health care.' ... When I was attacked in my yard and had six of my ribs broken, and pneumonia, lung contusion, all that -- these are people that are unstable, we don't want to encourage them."
Paul specifically called out Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., for saying this summer that his supporters should "get up in the face of some congresspeople." President Trump and other Republicans have also criticized Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., for urging protesters to harass Trump administration officials in public, with Trump calling Waters an unusually "low IQ" individual who represents the new face of the Democratic party.
There are signs that Republicans are being targeted with increasing frequency in recent days. Republican Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., revealed to Fox News on Sunday that his wife had received a graphic text message with a video depicting a beheading, and that someone has publicly posted the names and addresses of his family members.
BILL AND HILLARY CLINTON ANNOUNCE NEW BOOK TOUR -- CHECK OUT HOW HIGH THE TICKET PRICES ARE
The apparent intimidation efforts follow reports from Capitol Police that the Democratic congressional aide accused of publishing the private information (known as "doxxing") of at least three Republican lawmakers last month also allegedly threatened to leak senators’ children's health information if a witness told anyone about his activities.
Jackson Cosko, who recently worked for Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, was arrested for allegedly doxxing Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, and Mike Lee and Orrin Hatch, both of Utah, on Wikipedia -- with information such as their home addresses and phone numbers. Graham, Lee and Hatch's information was published in September.
Fox News' Alex Pappas contributed to this report.

Noncitizen Voting Cartoons