Mitch McConnell has a plan to use the filibuster, the Electoral College, and the judiciary to frustrate the emerging Democratic majority and effectively lock in minority rule for the foreseeable future. RBG’s death, for him, is a gift from heaven. He’s already announced that Trump’s nominee will get a vote in the Senate even though we are less than two months from the election.
But this grab for the marshmallow comes with terrible risks, both for the GOP and the country. First of all, it isn’t set in stone that McConnell can get a majority in the Senate for an expedited vote. Second, Trump is bound to pick an extreme right-wing jurist in an effort to please his base. That won’t help him win votes from moderate swing voters, particularly women, that he desperately needs in November. Third, it puts the seats of endangered GOP senators (here’s looking at you, Susan Collins) in even more peril. Fourth, and most importantly, such a naked, unprincipled power grab will be viewed as a justification for ending the filibuster and packing the court, not just by the far left, but by the entire Democratic Party, if they win the presidency and a Senate majority in November. Is a socially conservative Supreme Court worth a huge constitutional crisis, and even a potential revolution of sorts?
One thing is for sure: the country didn’t need this right now. Life is about to get even uglier than it already was.