Will Anthony Kennedy’s retirement save Mitch McConnell?
Historically, midterm elections are a struggle for the party occupying the White House. And even though recent polls show the Democrats losing some of their lead over Republicans on the generic ballot, the odds of the GOP retaining control of the House aren’t looking too good.
While the electoral map is favors Republicans when it comes to keeping control of the Senate, a boatload of broken promises, combined with Trump’s high disapproval numbers, have even Mitch McConnell worried that his gig as Senate Majority Leader could be coming to an end.
Normally, when the economy is doing well, Republicans can reduce or eliminate their losses. But with Trump’s trade war spinning out of control, and with recent news about how his tax cuts aren’t all they were cracked up to be, the GOP is unable to provide voters with a reason to vote for them.
While the House may be a lost cause, McConnell’s hope of keeping his leadership job might have been given a big boost following yesterday’s announcement that Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy is hanging up his robe.
After years of Congressional capitulation to the judicial branch of government where the Supreme Court has been appointed as the sole arbiter of the Constitution, judicial appointments have become a political football where the majority party plays offense and the minority party plays defense. Instead of making judicial appointments based on adherence to the Constitution, nominations are made based on the political ideology of the party in control and how closely aligned the nominee is likely to be with that ideology.
Still, with only a track record of ineptitude to run on, the GOP is positioned to keep its majority in the Senate by making the Anthony Kennedy replacement the paramount issue in November.
Trump released his list of potential Supreme Court nominees last fall. and unless he breaks another campaign promise, will nominate a candidate that will earn the pro-life seal of approval. Meanwhile, McConnell said yesterday that the Senate will vote in the fall on the new nominee. I’m guessing it will be just before November 6.
The judiciary was designed by the Founding Fathers to be the weakest branch of government; the power is supposed to belong to “we the people” via the legislative branch and the individual states. Unfortunately, in post-Constitutional America, judges have taken that power from us . . . and that’s good news for Trump and the GOP.
David Leach is the owner of The Strident Conservative. His politically incorrect and always “right” columns are also featured on NOQReport.com, RedState.com and TheResurgent.com.
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