“Did Barrett even want the job at this point in her life?”
Nice. I bet not one in a hundred thousand ever considered this a possibility.
I know I didn’t.
I thought long and hard about that. She would have to move her young family out of nice and safe South Bend into a DC jungle. Find new schools, her husband would have to find a new job. She would no longer be able to teach (as much) in Notre Dame. Her confirmation hearing would be brutal and she would be harassed in public maybe her family too. Can easily see her not wanting the job at this time.