With the date nearing, progressive groups are beginning to get serious about the nominee, forming The People’s Defense―a new activist coalition aimed at bringing Gorsuch down at all costs. Or at least sounding the alarm about a nominee who even opponents say comes across as likable.

“We are not hearing from them the intensity that we are hearing from the grass roots,” said Ilyse Hogue, president of Naral Pro-Choice America, the organizer of a recent letter from 11 progressive groups urging Democrats to step it up. “The grass roots really understands this is a do-or-die nomination.”

"I want to like Gorsuch, but despite his superb credentials and elegant manner, he’s an originalist. Meaning he interprets the constitution through the lens and context of when it was written in 1789."