Blog Credo

The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.

H.L. Mencken

Saturday, October 17, 2020

Biden's Court Plan

 Biden has said that he will release his thoughts on adding seats to the Supreme Court before the election. I've been trying to figure out why he's taken that approach. Why not just tell us? 

Biden has always expressed a - misplaced, in my opinion - faith in Republicans Senators, who will work with him once Trump is defeated. There is literally no evidence of this.

But...what if Biden has been talking to Mitt Romney and a few other old heads and institutionalists in the Senate GOP? Romney vowed to vote on Trump's nominee, but I don't recall him saying he would vote FOR his nominee. Romney hates Trump - it might be his most/only endearing quality. If Mittens and, say, Lamar Alexander want to save the 9 person Court and the idea of Senate rules and bipartisanship, then advancing Barrett's nomination to the floor and then killing it there, like McCain did with ACA repeal, would be the ultimate and final middle finger to Trump and his sycophants and enablers in the Senate. 

It would be pure High Sorkinism, and is very unlikely to happen, but it would explain why Biden won't announce his position.  He's waiting to see if Romney and maybe Sasse or Alexander or Toomey jump ship and preserve the SCOTUS Nine.

Also, it would be the dagger in the heart of Trump a week before the election.

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