Tonight, Colorado Republican Senator Cory Gardner announced that he will be voting to confirm Trump’s Supreme Court nominee to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
This is a big deal because Democrats needed to bully and intimidate four of the 53 Republican Senators in order to hold up this confirmation process. Susan Collins is a no, Lisa Murkowski is a no, and Mitt Romney will probably be a no. Cory Gardner was one of the potential four defectors, but now he has decided he will support the President.
So even if Mitt defects, as expected, we’re still in the clear.
Cory Gardner really didn’t have any other choice. He’s up for reelection in a bluish-purple state, but Trump only lost Colorado by 2.8% in 2016. Gardner’s best chance of getting reelected is hitching his wagon to Trump. He needs his Republican base energized and enthusiastic, and not supporting Trump here would have pissed off a lot of the Republican voters he needs to turn out in order to win re-election. This was really a no-brainer for Gardner.
Trump is going to announce the nominee in the next few days, and McConnell is going to fast track her (yes, it will be a her in all likelihood) for a confirmation vote ASAP.
The 2020 election will be one of the most brutally litigated in modern history, perhaps even on par with the 2000 election which went to the Supreme Court. If this election goes to the Supreme Court, we need Ginsburg’s replacement on there ASAP. We cannot rely on Chief Justice Roberts to be the swing vote. He has become a swamp creature; according to FiveThirtyEight, he has indeed drifted to the left over the course of his 15 years on the high court:
Roberts has had some terrible rulings in recent years which you can read about here. It is imperative that he is no longer allowed to be the court’s swing vote.