[Prophet in the wilderness]

" Are the Democrats going to allow themselves to be seen "beating up on a cripple" - particularly the first mobility-impaired American to be nominated to the Supreme Court? Surely, the ever-so-sensitive Democrats would rather lynch another black nominee than have to destroy a man already bound to a wheelchair. " ...................

The first rule that you need to remember about the Democrats, is ? " Double Standard " is their middle name.
The Democrats by the media and other Democrats are held to a different standard than the rest of us.
The Democrats will disqualify him from the Supreme Court BECAUSE he is handicapped, while conveniently forgetting that their own once held the highest office in the land. FDR, but, if you were to call them on that, they will conveniently say " welllllllllllll ....... that was a different age and time, and different circumstance "

[Tall_Texan]

But, save from being limited to a wheelchair, Abbott is a fully-functioning person. He has travelled statewide campaigning for public office. He does not have brain damage or any other infirmity. He has already been on a state Supreme Court and being on SCOTUS is not a physically taxing job. Heck, we have had octogenarians on the bench in all sorts of levels of health. If the Court hasn't been modified for wheelchair access then they are in violation of their own federal law (ADA).

You are right that the Dems are champions of the double-standard but I would think they wouldn't want to touch his disability as an issue. Unlike FDR and JFK where the press hid serious health issues, they can't hide this - not without the elephant in the room becoming obvious. The media would not ignore it - especially if Bush trots him out for the big introduction the way he did for John Roberts. So if the Dems go into their typical baseless hysteria, it will be seen to many as if they are attacking a man in a wheelchair.

Some of the Dem-friendly media may try to keep that appearance away using tricky camera angles but it will be difficult to hide, especially if Bush introduces him as the first handicapped American nominated for the Supreme Court.