According to Politico, Republicans are already planning on how they can try to derail Obama’s picks for the Supreme Court.
Senate Republicans admit they have virtually no shot at stopping President Barack Obama’s pick to replace Supreme Court Justice David Souter – but they see a definite political upside in waging a fight.
With apologies to Seth Meyers, I just have to ask… REALLY?!
Do they have any idea how petty they look doing this? Obama won, everyone already expected him to pick liberal judges. That’s not news. They told the entire country over and over that Obama was going to pick these scary, dangerous communist judges, and they were met with a collective shrug.
“Whoever they get is basically a zero-sum replacement for Souter – so I think it’s more of an opportunity for us than it is for them,” said a senior Republican leadership aide…. “I don’t think, given their majority, that we can stop them, but it’s a great opportunity for us to tie their incumbents to whatever crazy opinions or statements come to light.”
Yeah, because the Republican candidates for such positions are all sane, sober individuals without a hint of demagoguery. For Christ’s sake, your favored candidate for 2012 claims to have exorcised a demon! And beyond that, nobody wants you to do this. PERIOD. Everyone is getting more and more tired with the way that the GOP continues to prevent large numbers of government jobs to be filled for no other reason than spite.
Do they really not understand that being a dick is not an appealing quality? That making yourself a nuisance looks petty? That nobody likes a mosquito just buzzing around in your ears waiting to just leech off of you whenever it gets the chance?
Republicans acknowledge they’ll need to proceed with caution during the marquee Judiciary Committee hearings to avoid further marginalizing their party and driving away would-be voters with attacks on a nominee who’s widely expected to be either a woman or a member of a minority group or both.
As the aide put it: “We have to be careful not to f– up and overreach. So it’s a balancing act.”
Silly question of me to ask, I guess. Of course they don’t get it. They think it’s just about identity politics and trying to appeal to soccer moms. In their minds, 2010 is automatically a banner Republican year no matter what they do or what Obama does. So they think all they have to do is just continue to try and prevent Obama from running the government in an effective manner, and nobody will notice who’s actually pulling the strings.
I have news for the GOP. You’re not even close to getting out of the wilderness. Because to the Democrats and Independents, you’re just that damn mosquito that keeps flying around their head and won’t ever land.
Eric Ueland, former chief of staff to former Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), said scheduling is the first potential cause of friction between the White House and Congress, with the majority traditionally accommodating minority senators on matters of timing.
“The control of this process from the administration or majority standpoint is lost the moment a nominee is announced,” Ueland said. “At that point, control of the process, in terms of its timing shifts to the minority. … There will no doubt be a full-court press to go fast, fast, fast from the executive branch. Republicans will rightly say there is a lot of work to be done before we get to hearings.”
Ya hear it? Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…. Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…. splat.
I’m going to lay it out for you right now.
You can’t stage a comeback when you refuse to admit defeat in the first place.
Well, look at the bright side. There’s always 2014, I suppose.
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