Member-only story
Why Trump’s quick process of replacing Ginsburg was an unwise strategy
Now that the presidential election is over. It’s time to revisit the 2020 campaigns in the past months and learn the lessons from gains and losses. Here is my analysis in September explaining why President Trump’s handling of replacing Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg wouldn’t tip the scales of himself and Republicans in the 2020 general elections and beyond.
The passing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has opened up a new political battle over the vacant seat. Both President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have said to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court without delay.
With the general elections approaching, it seems a no-brainer decision for Republicans to speed up the nomination and confirmation of a new conservative Justice and move the makeup of the court from its current split of five conservative justices and four liberal justices to a more dominant 6–3 majority.
However, with regard to the upcoming elections and the long-term “partisan atmosphere” of the judiciary, pushing a hasty nomination may not be a wise strategy for President Trump and Republicans. I would like to explain the argument in three aspects: confirmation process, electoral bargaining, and political environment.
