This story was discussed yesterday (Sun July 1) on Meet the Press.
One of the most underappreciated reasons that Donald Trump won the 2016 election was voters motivated by a vacancy on the Supreme Court.
One in five voters told CNN in an exit poll that the Supreme Court was one reason they had cast a ballot. Of the voters who said it was the “most important factor” in their decision, 56 percent voted for Trump. According to the Washington Post, 26 percent of all Trump voters polled said that the Supreme Court was the basis of their decision.
CLICK ON IMAGE FOR LARGER VIEW
Anthony Kennedy’s retirement confirms what Republican voters knew two years ago: Sending a Republican to the White House could make a huge difference in the makeup of the court for a generation.
Now, with Trump’s approval ratings continuing to flag and the tax plan the GOP had plan to run on in the midterms losing popularity, Republicans are glad to have a new talking point for 2018: They’re promised a conservative court. And they’re going to deliver.
In July 2016, conservative commentator Hugh Hewitt wrote (in an article titled “It’s the Supreme Court, Stupid”) that his decision to vote for Trump was based largely on the potential repercussions of a Hillary Clinton presidency on the Court.
If Hillary Clinton wins, the Left gavels in a solid, lasting, almost certainly permanent majority on the Supreme Court. Every political issue has a theoretical path to SCOTUS, and only self-imposed judicial restraint has checked the Court’s appetite and reach for two centuries. That restraint will be gone when HRC’s first appointee is sworn in. Finished. So vote for Hillary Clinton (or sit it out) and then prepare for the deluge of court-ordered solutions to every social problem, bench-drawn congressional districts and extraordinary deference to every agency of the federal government combined with a sweeping away of federalism.
Abortion was the hot-button issue for Supreme Court voters
Among the Supreme Court issues that pushed voters towards Trump: abortion. In June 2016, Trump met with evangelical Christian leaders in New York, and Trump told the group that his potential Supreme Court nominees “will be great intellects, talented men at what they do — and women — but also be pro-life.” He added, “If Hillary gets in ... we know exactly what’s gonna happen. We’re gonna end up being a different country ... a Venezuela.”
That remark had a powerful impact on pro-life groups. Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, an organization opposed to legalized abortion, told NBC News, “When he said several times today ‘pro-life Supreme Court justice’ — that’s the first time I’ve ever heard a candidate use those words together in one sentence.” That was a major shift for Dannenfelser, who had earlier that year joined other anti-abortion activists in furiously rejecting comments Trump made arguing that women who have abortions should be “punished.”
LINK to full story: https://vox.com/2018/6/29/17511088/scotus-2016-election-poll-trump-republicans-kennedy-retire
One of the most underappreciated reasons that Donald Trump won the 2016 election was voters motivated by a vacancy on the Supreme Court.
One in five voters told CNN in an exit poll that the Supreme Court was one reason they had cast a ballot. Of the voters who said it was the “most important factor” in their decision, 56 percent voted for Trump. According to the Washington Post, 26 percent of all Trump voters polled said that the Supreme Court was the basis of their decision.
CLICK ON IMAGE FOR LARGER VIEW
Anthony Kennedy’s retirement confirms what Republican voters knew two years ago: Sending a Republican to the White House could make a huge difference in the makeup of the court for a generation.
Now, with Trump’s approval ratings continuing to flag and the tax plan the GOP had plan to run on in the midterms losing popularity, Republicans are glad to have a new talking point for 2018: They’re promised a conservative court. And they’re going to deliver.
In July 2016, conservative commentator Hugh Hewitt wrote (in an article titled “It’s the Supreme Court, Stupid”) that his decision to vote for Trump was based largely on the potential repercussions of a Hillary Clinton presidency on the Court.
If Hillary Clinton wins, the Left gavels in a solid, lasting, almost certainly permanent majority on the Supreme Court. Every political issue has a theoretical path to SCOTUS, and only self-imposed judicial restraint has checked the Court’s appetite and reach for two centuries. That restraint will be gone when HRC’s first appointee is sworn in. Finished. So vote for Hillary Clinton (or sit it out) and then prepare for the deluge of court-ordered solutions to every social problem, bench-drawn congressional districts and extraordinary deference to every agency of the federal government combined with a sweeping away of federalism.
Abortion was the hot-button issue for Supreme Court voters
Among the Supreme Court issues that pushed voters towards Trump: abortion. In June 2016, Trump met with evangelical Christian leaders in New York, and Trump told the group that his potential Supreme Court nominees “will be great intellects, talented men at what they do — and women — but also be pro-life.” He added, “If Hillary gets in ... we know exactly what’s gonna happen. We’re gonna end up being a different country ... a Venezuela.”
That remark had a powerful impact on pro-life groups. Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, an organization opposed to legalized abortion, told NBC News, “When he said several times today ‘pro-life Supreme Court justice’ — that’s the first time I’ve ever heard a candidate use those words together in one sentence.” That was a major shift for Dannenfelser, who had earlier that year joined other anti-abortion activists in furiously rejecting comments Trump made arguing that women who have abortions should be “punished.”
LINK to full story: https://vox.com/2018/6/29/17511088/scotus-2016-election-poll-trump-republicans-kennedy-retire
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