Red State Dems in a Bind

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President Donald Trump: "And now, judge, the podium is yours."

Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation may come down to just a handful of red-state Democrats fighting tough re-election battles.

These senators are under tremendous pressure to confirm Trump's pick to the High Court.

The latest polls show Senators Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Joe Donnelly of Indiana and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota are all trailing their Republican challengers.

Voting against Kavanaugh could very well hand victory to their GOP opponents in November.

Minority Whip Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois is pressing these senators to fall on their swords — to vote in lockstep with the Democratic Party against Kavanaugh or else face the party's wrath.

In an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press," Durbin urged his vulnerable colleagues to look beyond their own careers:

Senator Dick Durbin: "I will tell you, the men and women that I work with on the Democratic side really take this seriously. They understand it's a historic decision. It's about more than the next election."

This is the dilemma: Do red-state Democrats obey Durbin and sacrifice themselves for the sake of protecting Roe v. Wade? Or do they follow the will of the people to preserve their seats on Capitol Hill?

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