I don't often agree with Republicans. Rarely, in fact. But, today, two of them (not for attribution, of course) actually acknowledged the political reality the GOP is facing in the upcoming Supreme Court nomination battle:
A senior Republican Senate official not connected to Mr. Sessions said, “Everyone up here can see the political pieces on the board.” The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss the situation candidly, added, “No one is talking about the possibility of defeating any nominee, barring something coming out of left field.”Now, if only the Senate Democrats could come to the same conclusion, we'd be doing a lot better up there on Capitol Hill.
The official said that not only did Democrats have command of the committee and a strong majority in the Senate, but that any nomination would also come at a time when the president’s public standing was high.
A second top Republican Senate aide, also not connected to Mr. Sessions, said, referring to Mr. Obama, “Elections have consequences; he won.”
The Senate Republicans will play a political game on the nomination -- to appease their base. They did the same thing on the confirmation of Kathleen Sebelius. But, they've lost already. Elections do have consequences.
