The coming battle of the appointment of next Supreme Court judge will dominate US politics throughout the WH2016 campaign
NEW @CapX/@YouGov: By 57% to 37% Obama should nominate Scalia's successor https://t.co/IakiSVeZsn #PortraitOfAmerica pic.twitter.com/s1nMY0IQp9
— Tim Montgomerie (@MontieUSA) February 14, 2016
This is how the New York Times is reporting the ensuing battle in Washington over the appointment of a replacement on the Supreme Court for Justice Scalia who died over the weekend.
“WASHINGTON — An epic Washington political battle took shape on Sunday after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia as Senate Republicans dug in and said they would refuse to act on any Supreme Court nomination by President Obama. But the White House vowed to select a nominee within weeks.
Multiple Republican senators said they strongly supported the position of Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, that the vacancy should not be filled until after the presidential election, denying Mr. Obama a chance to reconfigure the ideological makeup of the court in the last year of his second term”
If Obama nominates and the Republican dominated Senate refuses even to consider the matter the party could be portrayed as being obstructionism for partisan reasons. This could resonate with voters in November particularly in those Senate races where GOP incumbents are hoping to carry on.
On another level a battle with the Republican dominated Congress could rejuvenate Obama’s final year as President.
Because of the power of the Supreme Court within the US Constitution the last thing that Republicans want is for the make up of the court to become more liberal. The late Justice Scalia was appointed by Ronald Reagan and was a prominent Conservative.