On so many obvious levels it was so disheartening to hear about the passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Near the top is that she deserved the opportunity to retire and enjoy that retirement, especially with her health issues, and had intended to after the 2016 elections. But those election results changed her plans, so she held on even more, to her everlasting credit.
This is a pure guess. But I sense that Lisa Murkowski and Chuck Grassley (who've already said so in August, and Sen. Murkowski reiterated it yesterday) and Mitt Romney and Susan Collins -- *AND* GOP senators in tight races -- won't go along with a Supreme Court vote before a new president is sworn in. And only four are needed. And no, I don't have a clue if I'm right. Nor do I rely on what Republican senator says. But I note two of those "GOP senators in tight races." One is incumbent Martha McSally in the Arizona Senate race against Democrat challenger Mark Kelly. What's overlooked is that that race is actually a Special Election, since she was appointed to temporarily replace John McCain. At the moment, polls show Kelly with a solid lead, though it's a competitive race. On the one hand, she might know she can't afford to offend independents. On the other hand, because this is a Special Election, election experts say that if Kelly wins he could be sworn in to the Senate as early as November 30. That would create an additional tightening if Mitch McConnell tries to push for a confirmation vote during a possible lame duck session. But I note, too, that most notably among those "GOP senators in tight races" is Lindsey Graham, who is also chair of the Judiciary Committee. I know full well that he'll sycophantically do most anything for Trump. But I also know he's aware that he risks his own reelection (in a race now 48-48%) if he pushes a nomination forward, most especially with a video of him on C-SPAN saying in October, 2018 that he won't. In fact, he goes further. In yet another video Graham says, "“I want you to use my words against me. If there’s a Republican president in 2016 and a vacancy occurs in the last year of the first term, you can say Lindsey Graham said let’s let the next president, whoever it might be, make that nomination." While I don't trust him keeping his word in the slightest, I do put weight on political self-interest. And I suspect that the C-SPAN video (posted at the very bottom of the page here) will run A LOT in South Carolina ads. What would be nice is if Mike Bloomberg bought some ads that relentlessly played this in the state....
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AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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