They blocked Barack Obama’s pick for the supreme court. They threw in their lot with Donald Trump, a political neophyte and TV celebrity facing multiple sexual harassment allegations. It is entirely unsurprising that the Republican party seems ready to ram through the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh.

Their logic: the end justifies the means.

Republicans are aware that presidents, senators and representatives come and go, but supreme court appointments are for life. They aim to capture the court – with its power to shape abortion rights, worker protections and who gets to vote – for a generation. That, they have determined, is the big prize, even if it entails riding roughshod over the #MeToo movement and alienating millions of women.

For a long time, Republicans have arguably been much more ruthless than Democrats. The comedian Bill Maher is fond of saying that Democrats keep bringing a knife to a gunfight. “Republicans, they’re all claws and sharp teeth and fangs when they fight,” he told viewers earlier this year. “The Democrats? Their weapon of choice is adaptive coloration.”

Trump provides bluster and arm-waving from the White House but the cold calculation comes from the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell. It was he who masterminded the opposition to Obama’s choice, Merrick Garland, on the flimsy pretext that the vacancy came up in a presidential election year.

McConnell is stripping the supreme court of its legitimacy through his determination to stack it with rightwingers Geoff Garin, Democratic strategist

The empty supreme court seat became a crucial reason for many conservatives to vote for Trump instead of Hillary Clinton, especially after the former’s tactical masterstroke of publishing a list of judges he would choose from. It worked: the seat went to the rightwing Neil Gorsuch. The lesson: cynical, hardball tactics pay off.

Geoff Garin, a Democratic strategist, tweeted on Friday: “Rushing to confirm Kavanaugh at this point would be as outrageous as denying Merrick Garland’s nomination any consideration at all. McConnell is stripping the supreme court of its legitimacy through his determination to stack it with rightwingers by any means at his disposal.”

‘Keep the faith’

Whatever his feelings about Trump, McConnell saw him as a price worth paying for complete Republican control of Washington which, for example, enabled sweeping tax cuts for the rich.

It was small wonder, then, that last week McConnell reminded hardliners at the Values Voter Summit in Washington how Trump is transforming the courts. The president has appointed 26 of 167 current circuit judges, more than any recent president at this point in their first term.

The supreme court is the icing on the cake. McConnell said: “Here’s what I want to tell you: in the very near future, Judge Kavanaugh will be on the United States supreme court. So, my friends, keep the faith. Don’t get rattled by all of this. We’re going to plough right through it and do our job.”

Republicans have been as good as their word. At first, at Thursday’s epic hearing on Capitol Hill, the plan appeared to be unravelling under the clarity and composure of Christine Blasey Ford, as she detailed the allegation that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her at a party when both were teenagers. But both Kavanaugh and Senator Lindsey Graham rallied the troops with nakedly partisan attacks, reminding them to put party before country.

First, exuding a sense of entitlement, Kavanaugh gave a roar of white male privilege straight from the Trump playbook.

The party that followed Donald Trump is becoming Donald Trump. It is embracing his smash-mouth, conspiracy theory style Charlie Sykes

Charlie Sykes, a conservative author and commentator, said on Friday: “We talk about the Republican party becoming Donald Trump’s party. We’re seeing the party that followed Donald Trump is now becoming Donald Trump. It is embracing his smash-mouth, conspiracy-theory style of politics.

“The danger to the institution of the supreme court is incalculable at this point. For a judge to go off on such a brazen partisan rant is an extraordinary moment. It surrenders any pretence he has to a judicial temperament.”

Graham, seething, claimed the treatment of the nominee was the “most despicable” thing he had seen in all his time in politics. He told Democrats: “What you want to do is destroy this guy’s life, hold this seat open and hope you win in 2020.”

One Republican observer said, half-jokingly: “Lindsey Graham stole the day and will be the next GOP presidential candidate (in 2024). He is really smart and fearsome.” By 9.30pm on Thursday, McConnell had issued a press release: “I Will Proudly Vote to Confirm Judge Kavanaugh.”

‘Worth a political bullet’

On Friday, the Republican steamroller ground to a surprising if temporary standstill. Jeff Flake of Arizona surprised the Senate judiciary committee by demanding a renewed FBI investigation into Ford’s allegations. Trump acceded but ordered that it “must be limited in scope and completed in less than one week”. If the bureau fails to uncover new evidence, Flake and other senators will probably have the cover they need to vote yes.

Christine Blasey Ford is sworn in. Photograph: POOL/Reuters

That would mean two of the supreme court’s nine justices – Kavanaugh and Clarence Thomas – carry the baggage of sexual assault or harassment allegations, while another owes his seat to McConnell’s political gamesmanship.

Two Republicans on the Senate judiciary committee were also there for Thomas’s confirmation in 1991. They will be keenly aware that despite the trauma of Anita Hill’s credible testimony, Thomas remains on the court as its most conservative justice. Hardball tactics paid off.

Hill was credited with inspiring “the year of the woman”: in 1992, 28 women were elected to the House and four to the Senate, more than doubling the total. But some have retired from politics while Thomas marches on. By a similar calculation, Republicans appear willing to accept pain at the polls in November for the sake of Kavanaugh who, at 53, could sit on the court for decades.

But one key difference between Hill and Ford is the rise of #MeToo.

“Apparently Republicans have calculated that it’s worth taking a political bullet for,” Sykes said. “They’re on a mission to confirm Judge Kavanaugh but at the cost of looking like they are ignoring women.

“They’re going to pay a heavy price in the long term. I think this is something we’re going to be talking about 20 or 30 years from now. It’s going to help define Republicans for a generation of women.”