4 Reasons to Doubt Mitch McConnell's Power
by David Frum
On the night of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced that a Trump nominee to replace Ginsburg would receive a vote on the floor of the Senate.
That announcement promised a use of power without hesitation or compunction, an abrupt reversal of the supposed rule that blocked an Obama nomination nine months before the 2016 election. This supposed rule would seem much better justified in 2020 than 2016. This time, the vacancy has occurred only 46 days before an election. This time, the party of the president making the nomination seems likely to lose, not win. This time, the Senate majority to approve the nomination may lose too.
But of course, the real rule in 2016 was "the good old rule ... the simple plan, that they should take who have the power, and they should keep who can." What McConnell did in 2016 was an assertion of brute power, and what he proposes in 2020 is another assertion of brute power. And so the question arises: Does McConnell in fact have the power he asserts?
The answer may be no, for four reasons.
The polls do not favor Susan Collins, Cory Gardner, or Thom Tillissenators from Maine, Colorado, and North Carolina up for reelection this cycle. Yet these competitors may not be ready to attend their own funerals. They may regard voting against McConnell's Court grab as a heaven-sent chance to prove their independence from an unpopular presidentand to thereby save their own seats.
Lisa Murkowski of Alaska has also made skeptical noises, and even Lindsey Graham of South Carolina may flinch. He faces an unexpectedly tough race this year, and he is extra-emphatically on the record vowing not to support a Supreme Court confirmation vote in the later part of a presidential year.
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https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/4-reasons-to-doubt-mitch-mcconnells-power/ar-BB19cXek?li=BBnbfcL&ocid=DELLDHP
Blue Owl
(49,934 posts)bullimiami
(13,043 posts)Statistical
(19,264 posts)Vulnerable senators no longer matter after the election is over. They either lost and in which case will be out of a job in a couple months or they won aren't don't need to face the voters for six months.
I would like to think Mitch will blink but he probably won't.
JustAnotherGen
(31,683 posts)We may not have a final decision on President until December.
New Congress is sworn in on January 3.
If they do it - they would be begging for an Expansion of SCOTUS.
SCantiGOP
(13,856 posts)He would lose big if he got on the wrong side of trump, who currently has a 7 point lead in SC.
As close as his race is, he cant do anything to lose any of the base. It may end up being his downfall, but he is tied to trump and will stay there.
Bev54
(9,963 posts)marble falls
(56,359 posts)McConnell may be back but there's at least six GOP Senators who won't.