From the left: Menendez Could Be Dems’ Achilles Heel

An “important subtext” of the Brett Kavanaugh hearings is the Democratic excitement about the party’s “unlikely but feasible” opportunity of retaking the Senate, contends New York’s Ed Kilgore. But suddenly, “there’s a Democratic seat in jeopardy that hasn’t drawn much attention until now, and it’s in a deep-blue state, New Jersey.” A new Stockton University poll of likely voters shows two-term Democratic incumbent Bob Menendez in a statistical dead heat with GOP challenger Bob Hugin. Despite his corruption trial and Senate reprimand, Jersey’s partisan character was expected to pull Menendez through. Now, Democrats face the ultimate irony: winning key Senate races in red states, but then handing “the gavel right back to Mitch McConnell by stumbling in New Jersey.”

Foreign desk: NAFTA Reboot Is Trump’s Biggest Win

The seriousness of the possible end to NAFTA “cannot be overstated,” suggests The Week’s Matthew Walther. The 1994 trade accord “exacerbated the decline of industrial America and began the remaking of the rest of the world in the image of deracinated neoliberalism.” And while the new US-Mexico-Canada Agreement is too complicated for quick total analysis, it’s already clear that “there is not a single area” in which it “is not superior to what came before.” Most important: “It concerns itself not with shoring up the fortunes of the United States but rather with the well-being of workers regardless of what country they live in.” If ratified by Congress, “it will almost certainly be President Trump’s greatest political victory.” If Congress falters, “he should test the limits of his executive authority and join it anyway.”

From the right: Women Must Stand Up for Kavanaugh

Jenna Ellis at National Review argues that the Brett Kavanaugh nomination “has been turned into a referendum on the #MeToo movement.” For the Left, which has canonized Christine Blasey Ford into a feminist icon, if you support Kavanaugh, “you are affirming toxic masculinity and turning a cold shoulder to every legitimate victim of sexual assault.” Which is why no Democrat on the Judiciary Committee “even pretended to be open-minded.” The Left “is systematically creating the illusion that every man is guilty of sexual misconduct simply on the basis of his gender.” But “being pro-woman does not require being anti-man.” Yes, “there are true victims and there are false accusations.” That’s “why we have due process in each individual instance” — or at least why we’re supposed to.

Economist: NY Fiscal Picture Is Darker Than You Realize

The national economy may be booming, but when Mayra Rodriguez Valladares at Crain’s looks around New York, “I see a lot that concerns me.” Because the state’s economic growth is lagging and could “slow down even more depending on how the state economy fares with the Trump administration’s tariffs,” given that international trade represents 13 percent of New York’s GDP. Moreover, not only is “the threat of lower tax revenues a concern, but so should be the current state of the state economy and municipalities’ balance sheets.” Spending will outpace revenues statewide by up to $17.9 billion over the next three years. New Yorkers could use some truth in accounting — and more accountability from their elected officials.

Political scribe: Bernie Sanders’ Time May Have Passed

There could be as many as 30 Democrats in the running for the 2020 presidential nomination, says Bloomberg’s Jonathan Bernstein. Indeed, the fight “has been going on for almost two years now.” In the end, though, he predicts the party will choose “a candidate with a perfectly conventional background, which means a current or recent governor or senator.” Like 2016 runner-up Bernie Sanders? Well, says Bernstein, “I just don’t see it. . . . I remain very skeptical that his voters had any long-term attachment to him.” Fact is, he “isn’t polling the kinds of numbers that indicate he’s retained his voters.” For many, suggests Bernstein, Sanders was “nothing more than the only other candidate on the ballot” — and “that certainly won’t be a problem this time around.”

— Compiled by Eric Fettmann