RIP Antonin Scalia

Elections have consequences.

 

They do.

It's why Obama can name whomever he wants because he won 2008 and 2012.

Also why the Republicans have every right to block it. They won majority in 2014.

Romney could have run a better campaign in 2012 and Obama could have governed a little more to the right before 2010 and 2014 and helped keep the Democrats in power in the Senate.

 

For sure.

Personally, I think Obama should nominate someone, and they should get a hearing and a vote.

And, I believe that most nominees should be approved. Their fitness for office should be what matters, not their political views.

But, I'm also not going to cry for the President. He voted against Roberts and Alito, who were both fit for the job. He voted against them for political/ideological reasons. Payback is a bitch too.

I don't know how we ever reset things to where everything isn't so political.

So, I do expect the Republicans will block any nominee. And, the public can hold them responsible if they see fit.

If Clinton (or Sanders) wins, it will be for nothing. But, if they allow a nominee to go through, their base would completely abandon them, and would likely exert a higher price. Plus, they'll hand the nomination to Trump if they ok a nominee.

I think it also shows how weak their majority is. If they thought it would hold, they'd just give a nominee a vote, and vote him down. (Bork got voted down, and we ended up with Kennedy.) But, they don't trust it going to a vote.

 

Exactly. Let the Republicans block as many as they want. And let the voters punish or reward them as they see fit. This really doesn't need to be that complicated.

 

I don't disagree with any of that, but I do think the GOP will get pummeled by a wider margin in the general election if they decide to pick this fight.

 

It's certainly possible. Time will tell.

 

Obama couldn't possibly go 3 for 3 in naming females to the SCt

 

Trump's Twitter feed is on it.



–Ted Cruz is the solicitor general of Texas

 

Obama should nominate Loretta Lynch and dare them to vote down a black woman in this election cycle. She was vetted and confirmed less than a year ago.

 

I'm sure they'd be terrified of pissing off their base of black females.

 

Mitch McConnell Inflates Throat Pouch In
Show Of Dominance Over Fellow Congressional Males

 

One thing I had never considered prior to this.
If the Senate does follow through with plans not to even consider Obama's nominee until 2017, we are officially establishing precedent going forward that no president will be able to appoint an SC nominee in his/her final year. That's cutting out at least 25% of any given term.
I wonder if that's really the route people want to go given that the last five sitting presidents have all made at least two appointments during their time in office.