Dear CV Friend,
Last July a headline in the New York Times declared:
“The Supreme Court has faded somewhat in importance as frustration with the president
grows.”
The article explained how conservative groups hoped to prioritize the future of the Supreme Court for voters. The problem: voters
were focused elsewhere, on the coronavirus threat, the economy, and violence.
Last Friday evening, everything changed.
This morning
President Trump announced he will nominate a replacement for the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as soon as this Friday or Saturday. By this time
next week, the confirmation fight will be well underway -- and there’s heavy speculation that the nominee will be a Catholic pro-life woman.
How will this play out? Good? Bad?
FIRST: Consider that as of today there are only three committed votes in favor of
Roe v. Wade left on the Supreme Court. Sensing the threat, Democrats are now talking about trying to pack the Court with new seats if they
win back the Senate and White House in November.
As for the politics, here’s our take:
- Remember Kavanaugh? The Democrats
were set to win big in 2018. That is, until they viciously attacked Brett Kavanaugh. Pressed by radical left-wing activists, Democrats accused
Kavanaugh of sexual assault, as well as being the ringleader of drunken gang-rape parties. When it became clear the charges were baseless, the public
was outraged. And voters turned on the Democrats.
- Just ask Claire McCaskill. The
pro-abortion “Catholic” Democrat Senator from Missouri admitted that the “Kavanaugh spectacle” is what made the
difference in her election defeat. She’s right. The vicious smears and attacks backfired on Democrats. Republicans added two seats in the
Senate. And those seats loom large in this upcoming fight.
- It wasn’t just McCaskill. In 2018, four
of the five Democratic senators in competitive races who voted AGAINST Justice Kavanaugh lost their reelection bids. The only Democrat who voted FOR
confirming Justice Kavanaugh won his race.
- The Left in America can’t publicly defend judicial activism.
So they resort to baseless personal attacks to frame the confirmation battles. We expect it will be much harder to frame Amy Coney Barrett (or a
similarly-qualified woman) as a gang-rape leader or worse, as they did with Brett Kavanaugh. Further, finger-wagging at a sharp, intelligent woman
will not go over well with critical suburban voters -- especially Catholics.
- COVID in the background. Media pundits
were ready to mark the 200,000th death from COVID this weekend -- with Democrats preposterously pinning every death on the president. COVID remains a
serious issue, but the fever-pitch of a Supreme Court nomination will likely push COVID off the front burner.
Remember:
Mitch McConnell
has been perfectly consistent. According to then-Senator Joe Biden (the “Biden Rule”), when the White House and Senate are held
by opposing parties, the Senate should hold off filling a vacancy in a presidential election year -- as Republicans did in 2016.
But
McConnell and Republicans also made clear at the time: if the White House and Senate are controlled by the same party, the
Constitution allows for full speed ahead.
That’s always been the case. There’s nothing new here. As Democrats noted not too long ago,
the Senate has confirmed 17 Supreme Court justices in election years.
Now President Trump and Senate Majority Leader McConnell hope to
make it 18...
Finally, let’s not forget that Joe Biden and the Democrats turned the confirmation of Supreme Court justices into the
circuses they are today when they trashed Robert Bork in 1987. Their maniacal character assassination brought a new word to our dictionary. To
“bork” someone is to destroy a person’s reputation in order to advance a political goal.
They tried it again by smearing Clarence
Thomas in 1991. They went “nuclear” and got rid of the filibuster for judicial nominees....
...and went deep into the gutter with Brett
Kavanaugh just two years ago.
The Left can preach about “norms” all day long. But their posturing has worn thin. The Left has never
granted our side a single courtesy. That’s why we believe the only deference that should be given is to the Constitution.
If there’s one
thing President Trump has taught us, it’s that the first political calculation should always be: what’s the right thing to do?
Let’s
go.
Brian
P.S. CV has learned that President Trump will deliver remarks at
the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast on Wednesday. We’ll share updates on Twitter and Facebook as we get them.
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