Congressional Democrats are predictably screaming over Senator Mitch McConnell ramming through President Donald Trump’s conservative nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court. Where were they when it might have done some good? They are two years too late. Trump has already named many lower federal court positions. With his next Supreme Court appointment, he will have a conservative majority locked in for generations.
Liberal SCOTUS Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg is in her mid-80s, and liberal SCOTUS Justice Stephen Breyer talks of retiring. So, how about a 7-2 conservative majority for the next half-century? That, along with young conservatives throughout the federal court system, will surely neuter liberal legislation on voter suppression, civil rights, gay rights, health care, gerrymandering, women’s right to choose, environmental protection, money in politics, rights of organized labor and all the rest of it.
This was not an undercover clandestine plan by Trump and his Republicans. Trump trumpeted his intention, loud and clear — overturn Roe vs. Wade. And, hardly a peep out of top Democrats and the Clinton organization during the entire campaign about the urgency of a Democratic president to prevent a conservative lock on the Supreme Court.
Where were the Democratic presidential hopefuls for 2020? Senators Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, Amy Klobuchar, Kamala Harris, Kirsten Gillibrand; former Vice President Joe Biden — sure they were campaigning, blasting Trump, boosting Hillary and talking issues as well they should have. But not pounding home the importance of electing Hillary, like her or not, for sake of the Supreme Court, was an unforgivable exhibition of sheer ignorance.
Where were Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Nancy Pelosi, and the rest of the congressional Democratic heavyweights on this issue? Asleep at the switch, ignoring the major factor that determines the future direction of the nation for generations.
Senator Bernie Sanders, God love him, was preaching health care for all, and appropriately reminding us of the inequity and danger to the economy of income inequality. But if he mentioned the Supreme Court, it was only in passing.
The vapid blown dry clones of the electronic mainstream media seldom mentioned the importance of the Supreme Court. Except when Trump reminded us that his objective was to pack the court with reliable conservatives.
Where was Clinton campaign chair John Podesta? Sen. McConnell’s refusal to even hold hearings for President Barack Obama’s nominee clearly warned that the Supreme Court was one election away from becoming hard right for generations.
Trump was explicit — a court that would overturn Roe vs. Wade. The Clinton campaign ignored the court as a major issue.
Okay, Hillary lost the election because everything that could have gone wrong did — voter apathy, voter suppression, untimely announcements by FBI personnel, Russian meddling, mainstream media malfeasance including false equivalence reporting while amplifying Trump’s megaphone. And, of course, numerous strategic and tactical errors of the Clinton campaign itself. Not drumming home the importance of the court to Democratic voters, including those who were not Hillary enthusiasts, was a major blunder.
My wife can attest to my frequent screaming at the radio when Democratic campaign ads totally ignored the Supreme Court. When baffled commentators on NPR were agonizing over how disgruntled Sanders supporters could ever be convinced to vote for Hillary, I screamed at the radio, “Think Supreme Court, you morons.”
In 1992, the appropriate slogan for Democrats was, “It’s the economy stupid.” In 2016, it should have been “It’s the Supreme Court, stupid.” Actually, it was, but only Trump and his voters were astute enough to realize that.
I still have a copy of a letter I wrote to my congressman with two checks; one to his campaign, the other to the Clinton campaign. I asked my congressman to forward that check to the Clinton campaign with a note using his influence to remind candidate Clinton to please stress the urgency of a Democratic nominee to the Supreme Court.
The check to Clinton was never cashed.
It does not take a political science major to understand the importance of the Supreme Court. Ostensibly knowledgeable collegiate Sanders supporters who stayed home because they didn’t care for Hillary will pay the price for the remainder of their lives with a Supreme Court that rules that “money is speech.” (My July 22, 2016 column was titled, “To Sanders Supporters: Think Supreme Court.”)
Suburban college-educated women who value their right to choose should not be shocked that the court will overturn Roe vs. Wade. Actually, it doesn’t even have to be overturned to nullify it. It can be left to die by a thousand cuts by allowing tight restrictions imposed by states.
African Americans who voted for Obama but didn’t vote for Hillary will similarly pay a price with a court that is cool to civil rights, and rules that gerrymandering and voter suppression is fine.
It’s ironic — the same voters who backed Trump, who promised to eliminate their health care by eliminating Obamacare, voted for him anyway. Why? These conservative voters made clear it was because they wanted a court that would support the 2nd amendment, and overturn Roe vs. Wade. It was about guns and abortion — about the Supreme Court, stupid.
Evangelicals with reservations about Trump’s character overlooked it because they saw overturning Roe vs. Wade as the overriding issue. It’s the Supreme Court, stupid.
In short, Trump’s supporters recognized the importance of this election to the court. The Clinton campaign and Ivy League educated Democrats ignored it.
High school graduates and high school dropouts not only outgunned but outsmarted and outfoxed the big time Democrats. It’s no wonder that we rank and file Democrats are furious, livid, at the incompetence and impotence of what passes for Democratic Party leadership.
Meanwhile, the powerful and ruthless Sen. McConnell is thumbing his nose and laughing at congressional Democrats who might as well be baying at the moon.
It’s not too much to demand that, in addition to being on the right side of the issues, top Democrats be both tough and smart.
They showed that they are neither, and were asleep at the switch — once again.
— John Waelti of Monroe, a retired professor of economics, can be reached at jjwaelti1@tds.net. His column appears Saturdays in the Monroe Times.
