I listened to Ben Shapiro and Glen Beck dissect the SCOTUS pick on the radio today. They were both okay with him. Shapiro commented that Kavanaugh wrote very narrow opinions that just dealt with the case and he did not legislate from the bench like liberals did. Was the law constitutional or not? That’s the question. Was it properly applied? If peripheral issues were involved but did not impact the case, he does not rule on them.
Now, having said that, Shapiro pointed out that justices who get to sit on the top court often expand their views. He pointed out that justices appointed by liberals never go conservative. Justices appointed by Republicans, however, are about 50/50 after they get onto the court. Both Beck and Shapiro thought Kavanaugh a good pick even if he wasn’t their first choice.
You may dislike John Roberts as Chief Justice, but I think there is more pressure on the CJ to maintain the Court as an institution than on the associate justices. In that position he has to be more “centrist.” Having said that, he is trying to create a “common ground” based on exactly what you said; very narrow opinions that decide only the case and controversy before the Court. In so doing, he has wooed Kagan somewhat away from the hard left of RBG and the Wise Latina.
Kavanaugh will fit quite nicely in this rubric. He will rule only on case and controversy, but over time will (along with Alito and Gorsuch) build a body of sound Constitutional precedent. The Court is like an a large cruise ship; it takes a while to change direction. I see good days ahead for SCOTUS. Even better if Trump can get one more appointment in first term (and we know who we see getting replaced).