Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Court balance in play this election
Orange County Register ^ | April 27, 2012 | Brian Calle

Posted on 04/29/2012 6:40:28 AM PDT by Clintonfatigued

The stakes in this year's election are higher than normal because the next president may have the unusual opportunity to impact the ideological direction of the Supreme Court, untypical of any one presidential term.

During the next presidential term, starting in January 2013, of the nine Supreme Court justices, "three of the justices will be in their 80s," notes Clint Bolick, author of the new book, "Two-Fer: Electing a President and a Supreme Court."

"[W]hoever is elected in November may have the rare chance to reinforce or alter the courts balance," he said.

And with Supreme Court rulings like Citizens United in 2010 – and perhaps the upcoming decisions on Obamacare and the federal government's lawsuit against Arizona's illegal-immigration law – hinging on the opinion of a single justice and setting longstanding precedents, the court's balance ought to be top of mind for voters this year.

There is no guarantee when a justice will retire nor can they be forced to do so. Supreme Court justices are constitutionally guaranteed a life term and can serve for as long as they wish to.

Of those justices reaching their eighties in the next presidential term, two of the three are regarded as being on the conservative side of the court. Among the liberals, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg turns 80 in 2013. Conservative Antonin Scalia, 76, turns 80 in 2016. Anthony Kennedy, often portrayed as the swing vote on the typically divided court, turns 77 this summer and 80 in 2015.

(Excerpt) Read more at ocregister.com ...


TOPICS: Government; Politics/Elections; US: District of Columbia
KEYWORDS: scotus
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-83 next last
To: Clintonfatigued
TEA Party conservatives

Well, I guess one can always hope that they vetted them a little better this time.

41 posted on 04/29/2012 8:57:05 AM PDT by EternalVigilance (You can be a Romney Republican or you can be a conservative. You canÂ’t be both. Pick one.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 36 | View Replies]

To: EternalVigilance

See we do agree.

Best if Obama is reelected.

Obama thanks you for your support.


42 posted on 04/29/2012 8:57:41 AM PDT by PeteB570 ( Islam is the sea in which the Terrorist Shark swims. The deeper the sea the larger the shark.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 39 | View Replies]

To: PeteB570
See we do agree.

You shouldn't lie so obviously. It just makes you look bad.

43 posted on 04/29/2012 8:58:46 AM PDT by EternalVigilance (You can be a Romney Republican or you can be a conservative. You canÂ’t be both. Pick one.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 42 | View Replies]

To: Antoninus
In other words, we have lost the Supreme Court -- probably for good.

No, we've only lost you.

44 posted on 04/29/2012 8:58:59 AM PDT by Last Dakotan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 32 | View Replies]

To: Clintonfatigued
Hear hear:

if Romney is the nominee, we will have a choice. We can either elect an ambitous political weathervane who essentiall governs by opinion poll, or we can reelect a President who is a willing tool of people who want to destroy the United States and its people. I know it’s a bad choice. But we can survive a President Romney. A second Obama term will cause irreversable damage.

Being in California gives me the "luxury" of not really having to care about who I would vote for in our primary, as it will be pretty much done by then. But we MUST vote for the Republican nominee in the general election.

45 posted on 04/29/2012 8:58:59 AM PDT by jiggyboy (Ten percent of poll respondents are either lying or insane)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]

To: Clintonfatigued

Supreme Court appointments were the only reason I voted for Bush. As bad as Bush was he was better than Gore or Kerry. It would be a disaster to let Obama make any more appointments. Romney might nominate a conservative leaning judge Obama never will. I will take “might” over “never” any day.


46 posted on 04/29/2012 9:00:26 AM PDT by jpsb
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: PeteB570

Creating false dilemmas and trying to foist them off on thinking conservatives, in support of the most liberal governor in the history of the republic, is so silly.


47 posted on 04/29/2012 9:00:31 AM PDT by EternalVigilance (You can be a Romney Republican or you can be a conservative. You canÂ’t be both. Pick one.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 42 | View Replies]

To: EternalVigilance

We have a week to go before our primary here in NC. Early voting is open.

I will be casting my anti-Mitt vote on primary day. I was going to vote for any of the Conservatives but since they’ve all dropped out I’ll hold my nose and vote for Ron Paul.

I’ll hold my nose again on election day and vote for the Republican nominee - whoever he is.

In the general elections I vote to win - not feel good.

If Obama gets a second term I don’t want to have helped him by voting third party, write in or staying home.


48 posted on 04/29/2012 9:04:54 AM PDT by PeteB570 ( Islam is the sea in which the Terrorist Shark swims. The deeper the sea the larger the shark.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 43 | View Replies]

To: PeteB570

It’s a free country. If you’re willing to leave your supposed principles at the door and support a pro-choice democrat there’s nothing I can do about it.


49 posted on 04/29/2012 9:07:01 AM PDT by EternalVigilance (You can be a Romney Republican or you can be a conservative. You canÂ’t be both. Pick one.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 48 | View Replies]

To: Last Dakotan
All you Romney bashers on FR need to put on your big boy pants and consider what a Eric Holder nomination to the Supreme Court would mean.

That should make anyone with doubts about defeating Obama sh&t their pants.
50 posted on 04/29/2012 9:07:42 AM PDT by Oceander (TINSTAAFL - Mother Nature Abhors a Free Lunch almost as much as She Abhors a Vacuum)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: EternalVigilance

Obama thanks you for the support.


51 posted on 04/29/2012 9:07:57 AM PDT by PeteB570 ( Islam is the sea in which the Terrorist Shark swims. The deeper the sea the larger the shark.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 49 | View Replies]

To: PeteB570

Romney Republicans have already ceded the election to Obama. You’re selling out all principle for absolutely nothing.


52 posted on 04/29/2012 9:09:58 AM PDT by EternalVigilance (You can be a Romney Republican or you can be a conservative. You canÂ’t be both. Pick one.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 51 | View Replies]

To: Oceander
That should make anyone with doubts about defeating Obama sh&t their pants.

Hence the urgency of this discussion for Conservatives.

53 posted on 04/29/2012 9:10:56 AM PDT by Last Dakotan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 50 | View Replies]

To: PeteB570

There’s no way any candidate can possibly win a contested election when the best thing his supporters have for their bumper stickers is “Yeah, I know he sucks, but...”


54 posted on 04/29/2012 9:11:40 AM PDT by EternalVigilance (You can be a Romney Republican or you can be a conservative. You canÂ’t be both. Pick one.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 51 | View Replies]

To: EternalVigilance

Obama thanks you for supporting his reelection campaign.

Any help you can provide by voting third party, writing in Micky Mouse or staying home is greatly appreciated.


55 posted on 04/29/2012 9:12:14 AM PDT by PeteB570 ( Islam is the sea in which the Terrorist Shark swims. The deeper the sea the larger the shark.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 52 | View Replies]

To: Last Dakotan
Given that Romney has been political chameleon his whole career were we can have an effect is the background he plays against. VP, platform, Cabinet - even the House and Senate are all in play and ripe for conservative agitation.

We can have almost no effect on any of that. How exactly can we control who goes in Romney's cabinet? Those aren't up for a vote. As far as Congress, enough Republicans will simply go along with anything he does because of the "R" after his name. Bush Sr. got taxes raised by getting moderate Republicans and Democrats to agree on a plan when conservatives balked on a plan that would not have raised taxes as high as he did. We just saw the same thing take place on the student loan issue, as the WSJ explained it. The subsidized interest rate will add $6 billion to the deficit next year and risks becoming a permanent, untouchable entitlement. Romney agreed with Obama on it, and the House GOP went along with it because they didn't want to "embarrass" their nominee. This is how RINO presidents work, and why they don't win reelection. They totally disenchant the base and their liberal policy has the same bad effects it would under a Democrat. A Romney win paves the way for a Democrat takeover in 2014 and 2016 and the worst liberal policy you can imagine.

The crying, whining, screaming and kicking that because my guy didn't win I'm taking my toys and running home. Grow up people.

Has absolutely nothing to do with "my guy" logic. Plenty of us would have been fine with any mostly CONSERVATIVE nominee, be it Cain, Bachmann, Gingrich, Perry, Santorum, we'd probably even give Paul a shot. But Romney isn't even an option. It's like asking us to coalesce around Hillary Clinton. Neither are conservatives in any way, shape or form. More conservative than Obama, by a hair, maybe. But that's nothing a real conservative can settle for or rally behind. And if you want to argue strategy, gridlocking Obama with a Republican Congress for 4 years and then getting a conservative in there would probably be better than electing Romney.

56 posted on 04/29/2012 9:12:45 AM PDT by JediJones (From the makers of Romney, Bloomberg/Schwarzenegger 2016. Because the GOP can never go too far left.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 33 | View Replies]

To: PeteB570

Pure nonsense.


57 posted on 04/29/2012 9:13:17 AM PDT by EternalVigilance (You can be a Romney Republican or you can be a conservative. You canÂ’t be both. Pick one.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 55 | View Replies]

To: PeteB570

As scary as a second Obama term might be, there is something infinitely scarier: American “conservatism” with no principles left.

There is no possible path back for this country without a return to this free republic’s moral principles, sir.

And when the only part of the electorate that could possibly lead such a return has abandoned any sense of right and wrong, purely out of fear or perceived political expedience, you’re creating the exact sort of political environment that led to Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany.


58 posted on 04/29/2012 9:18:57 AM PDT by EternalVigilance (You can be a Romney Republican or you can be a conservative. You canÂ’t be both. Pick one.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 55 | View Replies]

To: EternalVigilance

Obama thanks you for your support.

Be assured that as a conservative who helped tube Mitt you will be afforded the best seats available on the train to the reeducation camps.


59 posted on 04/29/2012 9:21:13 AM PDT by PeteB570 ( Islam is the sea in which the Terrorist Shark swims. The deeper the sea the larger the shark.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 58 | View Replies]

To: PeteB570

Meh.

Typical Romney Republican nonsense.

You’re going to fit in just fine.


60 posted on 04/29/2012 9:23:34 AM PDT by EternalVigilance (You can be a Romney Republican or you can be a conservative. You canÂ’t be both. Pick one.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 59 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-83 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson