Remember, remember, this 4th of November?
Does the narrow margin of victory (5-4, in case you’ve been hiding under a rock) in the Heller decision change your outlook on this November’s presidential election?
In other words, are those of you previously uninterested in participating in a hold-your-nose vote for McCain reconsidering, in the interest of hopefully preserving or increasing the “pro-gun” majority on the court?
Frankly, I have a feeling Kennedy’s vote was such a “barely” that I don’t know how well an incorporation case will go over in front of the current court. And if, God forbid, one of “our” justices were to retire or kick off, we’d definitely need another pro-gun nominee just to avoid getting spanked. If one of “their” justices were to retire or kick off (oh, boo hoo, won’t that be a tragedy), a pro-gun nominee could mean a solid fifth vote if Kennedy swings the other way, or even a sixth vote if he sticks around. (This is, of course, assuming Scalia, Thomas, Roberts and Alito are all willing to go all the way with this issue.)
This is not me endorsing McCain. But, it definitely has me thinking more about strategy. How about you?
It’s exceedingly rare for a Supreme Court case to be overturned, and McCain’s a one termer at best. I think a better strategy would honestly be to let Obama win and come up with a better candidate in 2012. Age favors the conservative wing, and justices tend to resign only when a president sympathetic to their side is in power anyway.
The oldest justice is John Paul Stevens, and while Scalia is second oldest, it’s by a great margin.
*sigh* If only we could get justices who were anti-torture AND pro-gun.
I’m not concerned about overturning this decision - I’m concerned about the many expected to follow, such as the ones already filed with the intent to incorporate the 2A.
And, if you think about it, McCain is highly likely to nominate anti-torture, pro-gun justices if given the chance.
Again - not endorsing the guy, just musing.
McCain’s already sold out on the torture issue. Keep in mind that Reagan and Bush I together nominated justices like O’Connor, Kennedy, and Souter (along with, to be fair, Scalia and Thomas). It took someone as pigheaded as Bush II to appoint Alito and Roberts, and the only progress in those cases was to replace Rehnquist and perhaps improve on O’Connor. I wouldn’t expect anyone as conciliatory as McCain to reliably appoint good justices, is all.
You are absolutely correct.
Other than Ron Paul, not sure I could vote for any of the republicans that ran, certainly not McCain. I see a lot of similarities between Obama and Jimmy Carter’s campaign. Guy comes out of nowhere and sweet talks America into loving him because he’s different (Change, anyone). I believe Obama’s ideologies are considerably farther left than Carter’s. I’m hoping he’ll be a one-termer like Carter. I’m also hoping that this country will wake up and see where we’re headed. It’s probably too late, but I’m hoping.