It’s all about the votes, stupid: why Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Democrat victory matters
There is no silver lining for liberals. But there is also no cause for panic or despair
It’s no surprise. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy is an elderly man. He was bound to retire sooner or later, and when you’re 81, sooner usually wins. To replace Kennedy, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell won’t have to sledgehammer equity, comity and decades of democratic norms, as he did in 2016 when he blockaded President Barack Obama’s nominee, Merrick Garland. McConnell can now play the model of decorum while a partisan majority in the Senate does what partisan majorities now mostly do: Close ranks. Democrats will wage their best poll-tested arguments against a court appointment by a tainted and possibly compromised president. But they will not stop it. Hopes that phantasmagoric "moderate Republicans" will save the day are likely to be dashed. Republicans intend to lock in place a reactionary court that will thwart the American majority for decades.
And they are very, very, very likely to succeed. There is no silver lining for liberals. But there is also no cau...
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