The worst part is, many of us here and elsewhere had these very same reservations about Kavanaugh before he was nominated. Unfortunately, those concerns were immediately shouted down when Trump officially nominated him, because too many *wanted* Kavanaugh to be the tipping point that started to undo the Warren Court.
We also have Christine Blasey Ford to thank for creating a sideshow that made it impossible for those on the right to criticize Kavanaugh without looking like moles.
I really wanted to know more about Kavanaugh, but as you said, everyone was sidetracked by those bogus Ford claims -- myself included. After Roberts was fraudulently sold as a conservative, I find I can't trust anyone (not just Trump) when they say a nominee is a conservative jurist. I'm going to find out for myself.
By the way, even though Kavanaugh is on track to being a lousy choice for SCOTUS, I'm still glad I and so many others defended him against those bogus claims by Ford and others. The people and organizations behind that smear campaign thought they could get away with it -- after all, a similar campaign against Roy Moore was so successful. I just hope whoever is behind this [expletive] will think twice before they try to smear someone like that again.
Kavanaugh will still have chances to regain his reputation in future rulings. I just hope he's smart enough to do so.