Article by Derek Hunter in Townhall
Republicans Can Win The SCOTUS Fight, Just Not How You Think
We have to be honest with each other, and ourselves: Whoever Joe Biden nominates to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer is probably going to be confirmed. Unless they are a secret serial killer who confesses during their confirmation hearing, or has a “I hate the USA!” neck tattoo, Democrats have the votes to put them on the court. When the conclusion is foregone, strategy matters even more than usual – how Republicans go about this process can and will have an impact in what matters even more: the 2022 elections. That’s why I suggest they simply let it go.
Hear me out. I know there is an instinct to fight everything, no matter how lost the cause, because fighting for the sake of fighting has become a way of life. Pundits on social media have made their names “taking on” every troll account just created for the express purpose of sending one mean tweet to them. Some live so deeply in their mentions they look for tweets that didn’t that show up in mentions, they search their names, even spelling variations, in the hope of finding a fight. It’s kind of sad.
It’s also exceedingly rare. Twitter is not real life, and most adults recognize this. I’m not above a good social media scrap, but there has to be a limit. Besides, what some pundit working on their “brand” does to gain an audience seeking that kind of confrontation is irrelevant to the vast majority of the American people. As I said, Twitter is not real life.
So, what I suggest to Republicans is don’t be that Twitter troll. Don’t pick a fight you know you can’t win.
I’m not suggesting they roll over and play dead, but unless there’s something particularly egregious in the nominee’s past, and by that I mean something that might be able to turn a couple of Democrats against them and stop the confirmation (which would be exceedingly rare), I say don’t oppose it.
Even if Joe Biden nominates an absolute lunatic who does have “I hate America” tattooed on their forehead, that person would vote no differently than retiring Justice Stephen Breyer has. Breyer votes in lockstep with Justices Sotomayor and Kagan, so much so that no lawyer arguing a case before the court has to worry about addressing those three – how they’ll vote is known when the case is announced.
Since Biden’s pandering pick of a black woman won’t change the court in any way, let it happen.
Democrats are gearing up for a fight, for Republicans to go all in on attacking the beliefs of the nominee. Do it, calmly. But point out how it doesn’t matter, and so you won’t be using procedural maneuvers or having massive protests, or even caring about the whole thing. Show up, ask tough questions just so the public can see what crazy beliefs a liberal nominee has, but spend your time talking about inflation, gas prices, COVID raging and not being “shut down,” Biden’s failures in both foreign and domestic policy.
By not engaging in a fight Republicans can’t win, the dynamic changes. Democrats are poised to raise a fortune off this fight. If there’s no fight, there’s a lot less money. Democrats need something their base can get excited about to bring energy to the midterms. Without a fight, that doesn’t exist. Democrats need something, anything to change the narrative from Biden’s failures. Biden’s failures should be all that comes out of the mouths of Republicans between now and Election Day.
Don’t play dead, just don’t play the game Democrats need. The changing of the Senate filibuster rule by Harry Reid and then by Mitch McConnell means this fight is over before it began. Let the process play out, take a look at what investigators find, but if there’s no smoking gun of absolute disqualification in there, whoever Joe picks will get confirmed. Let them.
Take the wind out of the sails of Democrats who you just know have already ordered the “Senator so-and-so is a racist” t-shirts and have drafted dozens of fundraising emails about how “mistreated” the nominee is being by those evil Republicans. Don’t give them the ability to use them. Hell, consider voting for the nominee. The number of votes a nominee gets is irrelevant, they only have one vote on the court. But strategically, if Republicans act smartly, they can come out of this entire process, a process that is essentially over before it begins, with a win.
