As if it couldn't get any worse for Republicans, it just did.
With the unfortunate, untimely death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, this throws all three branches of government hip deep into the muddy race for the executive. It's also sad when The National Journal's Ron Fournier says that with a call, it had already turned political 20 minutes after he passed. However, those are the terms in which justice are put because of the life time appointment. People spend years calculating the day one passes and hence who will get to make the appointment.
Speaking of which, President Obama will put forward a nominee, of course. However, let's be clear, President Obama should put forth a nominee. As John Kasich said during today's interview, it's the president's prerogative. Just because the circumstance hasn't happened in 80 years does mean that the president should not conduct the business of the office even in his last year; another way of saying that we agree with the premise of Chuck Todd's question today to the Republican candidates of the 'three-year term' for the president? That's not the way it should be for either side - the the luck of the dice when it comes to life time appointments. The Republican-controlled Senate, lead by Mitch McConnell (R-KY) can then certainly delay the process and complain, but it will be at the peril of a Republican candidate winning the White House, certainly. The image of a Republican Senate unable to get anything done will come into sharp focus and hover over the election affecting the down ballot, especially if their nominee is Ted Cruz or Donald Trump.
This will become even more difficult in the general election on the heels of this what likely is to go down as the presidential primary with the nastiest character assassination rhetoric in at least the last century, because of the direct nature of the attacks - to your face, on national television. Donald Trump called the presidency of George Bush a 'reign.' He also called Senator Cruz the 'single biggest liar' on the stage, implying that there were others. Mr. Cruz, for his part, confronted Senator Rubio in Spanish after he said that Mr. Cruz didn't know how. Bottom line: It was ugly.
This begs the question of how the Republican nominee is going to come out at the end of this fight. No matter who wins the Republican nomination, there is going to be a large contingent of unhappy and vocal people at the convention.
As for the Democratic nominees, the panel discussed the notion of the Clinton campaign being able to turn the primary race into a referendum on her opponent, Bernie Sanders, specifically on his record concerning issues important to black voters; his record of championing for their rights.
However, given today's panel discussion, the referendum on Senator Sanders has already begun, at least in the press.
The panel made the point that Senator Sanders rarely addresses blacks specifically, always opting to frame things within the larger economically argument that theoretically transcends race. But in lieu of that, this is where Senator Sanders is at a disadvantage to Sec. Clinton. Mrs. Clinton, by contrast, has a long record of supporting causes important to the African-American community. Then the questions of how Senator Sanders intends to pay for his proposals compounds the argument against his candidacy.
If you're a left of center Democrat, the primary is going pretty much how you want it because Senator Sanders is pulling Hillary Clinton to the left but the sight on the horizon seems to be that Sec. Clinton will prevail, the 'establishment' candidate. Okay, what ever.
For the Republicans, it's a completely different story - there is no consensus candidate and the one with the most positive message (John Kasich) has the least amount of support. (And with all due respect to Dr. Carson, we'll put it kindly that he'd be doing his brand well by suspending his candidacy.) Kathleen Parker described Jeb Bush as 'desperate' - Laura Bush is now making appearances on Jeb's behalf as well as George in South Carolina this week. Donald Trump and Ted Cruz are wildcards at best. That's why it's easy to see how many in the establishment like Marco Rubio - he can be molded. We know that his rhetoric is tightly scripted and memorized with discipline. However, Senator Rubio should be careful what he wishes for because it has been proven that one-on-one he has folded, and Sec. Clinton is a strong debater. If it even gets to that point, which is doubtful.
Chris Cillizza described Donald Trump as 'off the rails' at last night's debate. It's safe to extrapolate that sentiment out over the entire Republican primary.
Panel: Gwen Ifill, PBS News Hour; Kathleen Parker, The Washington Post; Ron Fournier, The National Journal; Chris Cillizza, The Washington Post.
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