Conservatives must prepare for battle as Supreme Court nominations loom
by Editorial Board · The Washington TimesOPINION:
President Trump is expected to get two Supreme Court nominations in the remainder of his second term. The odds aren’t in favor of a conservative bench.
Of the four oldest justices, three are conservatives: Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr. and Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. Only one, Sonia Sotomayor, is a liberal. Left-wing legal organizations are gearing up for a bloody fight. One activist group alone, Demand Justice, plans to raise $11 million.
What should be simply a matter of determining a nominee’s qualifications has become a battle royale to impose an agenda on the high court.
As the fights over the nominations of Justices Neil M. Gorsuch and Brett M. Kavanaugh during the president’s first term show, there is no limit to how far Democrats are willing to go.
Nomination battles can get ugly. During confirmation hearings, Justice Kavanaugh was accused of sexual assault while he was in high school, a charge that proved to be baseless. Justice Gorsuch was accused of sexism.
With the Senate so evenly divided, Mr. Trump can’t afford to lose more than a few votes in a nomination fight. Democrats will seek to pick off the most vulnerable Republicans as they throw the kitchen sink at Trump nominees.
Here, war is a fitting metaphor.
The administration must do an exceptional job of vetting potential nominees. Conservatives need to be prepared on fundraising, publicity and constituent mobilization.
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Two moderate justices in place of two staunch constitutionalists could shape the court for decades to come.