There’s been a lot of hand-wringing, teeth-gnashing and angry recrimination being tossed around in the wake of news that Judge Brett Kavanaugh is a virtual shoo-in to join the U.S. Supreme Court.

Let’s take a breather, even for just a moment.

Sen. Susan Collins of Maine joined her Republican colleagues in supporting Kavanaugh’s nomination by Donald Trump to the high court. Almost immediately afterward, Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, a Democrat, announced his support for Kavanaugh.

Critics of them both are blasting them for their decision. In the case of Collins, critics say her speech today was a “partisan” hit job. Manchin has been called a coward.

Women are outraged, given the allegation that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted a woman 36 years ago when they both were teenagers.

Don’t misunderstand me. I would have voted “no” against Kavanaugh were it my decision to make. Yes, I live in Texas and I never would be elected to high office from this state, given my own political leanings.

However, I want to state that we operate in a “representative” form of government. The men and women who serve in both congressional chambers work for the people they represent. Yet, Collins’s decision today has been blasted because, according to her critics, she should have voted her conscience — regardless of what her Maine constituents want her to do.

That’s not what politicians do, normally. They serve at the pleasure of the people back home. They don’t serve their political leaders in Washington. They should listen to what the home folks are telling them. It well might be that Mainers told Collins they wanted her to endorse Kavanaugh’s nomination. Yes, Donald Trump lost Maine to Hillary Clinton in 2016. Her decision today and her expected vote Saturday to confirm Kavanaugh likely means she won’t run for re-election in 2020.

We have witnessed senators from “red” states and “blue” states make their decisions based on what their constituents want them to do. That appears to be the case with Sen. Manchin, who represents a state that voted overwhelmingly for Trump two years ago.

I just want to caution critics to temper their anger and remember that a representative form of government quite often binds our elected officials to the needs and wishes of those whose interests they represent.

The upcoming 51-49 vote to confirm Judge Kavanaugh quite likely, moreover, mirrors the stark, deep and widening division in our country’s political infrastructure.