"When you wish upon a star
Makes no difference who you are
Anything your heart desires
Will come to you."Disney's Pinocchio
The Supreme Court made the GOP dreams come true. Now, the song lyrics that might sit atop this blog are John Lennon's:
"Hey, you've got to hide your love away."
The GOP has an embarrassment of riches and the Supreme Court is having a legitimacy crisis. The Court just made bold reversals of policy, and did it on sharply ideological grounds that matched the party of the president that appointed each Justice. Facts didn't change. The Justices did. It looks partisan. It looks like a "Republican Supreme Court." It isn't what Chief Justice Roberts wants, but it is what America has, and there is no hiding it.
Only 25% of Americans say they have confidence in the Supreme Court, a historic low. Now 56% of Americans say they disapprove of the Court's decision to reverse Roe v. Wade. A poll showed 79% of New Yorkers had supported the New York gun law the Court reversed. The Supreme Court comes across as high-handed, impolitic, and Republican. They have power and they are exercising it, like it or not. They got that power from the GOP, and there is every sign that there will be more decisions just like the ones announced this week.
This sets up exactly the kind of situation that is familiar in the counter-trend of a mid-term election, where the public restrains the excesses of a powerful new president. The Supreme Court and Republicans just demonstrated that they, not the president, are the powerful actor that needs to be restrained. The president seems weak and harmless--indeed that is the complaint about him, the doddering old fool. The out-of-control disrupter and tyrant is the "Republican Supreme Court." This changes the direction of the traditional mid-term oscillation push-back by voters.
Jeffrey Laurenti noticed that the GOP's big win has them worried. Laurenti is a college classmate, a political scientist, and a former senior analyst with a boutique foreign policy think tank. He lives in New Jersey, where he has been active in Democratic politics. He served as an elector in the 2012 election and cast his vote for Barack Obama.
Guest Post by Jeffrey Laurenti
Trump's Supremes closed out their year with a climatic bang yesterday. It occurs to me, as it probably did to many other observers of politics, that this has been an extraordinary week. The Court has given big wins -- all strongly against the current of U.S. public opinion. They gave it to all three constituencies that are the mobilizing heart of the GOP Right: Pro-gun, anti-abortion, and (the constituency that pays for the others) big business, particularly fossil fuel industries.
I don't think I've ever seen a Supreme Court end of term where the most prized objectives of all the core constituencies of one political party have been so completely realized in the space of one week. This week's NPR poll suggests that the media attention to these stunningly unpopular decisions has altered voter perceptions, at least for this moment, of what this year's midterms are about. This puts Democrats suddenly ahead of Republicans by a statistically significant margin in the generic ballot-intentions question.
There's a reason GOP spokespeople have reacted to all of these decisions, along with the Trump follies being exposed by the January 6 Committee, by pointing away and crying "Inflation! Gas prices!" Those are worldwide phenomena that no party can control. They rather that than allow the campaign debate to focus on the things that they CAN decide and affect, such as guns, abortion, and climate. Those are issues on which the two parties point in clearly different directions, and the GOP has the losing hand.
Can such bracing clarity of choice last till November?
Thanks for sharing your insights and those of your notable friends! I am writing because I so bristle when people either describe Biden as a doddering old fool or say that others do, thus continuing the litany of agist comments. Biden is an aging statesman. He looks tired; what president has not? Let’s remember that Ben Franklin signed the Declaration of Independence at 70. Many of the signers were in their 50s, likely considered old in the 18th century.
What I focus on is that Biden understands how government works and works within that framework, rather than grandstanding about government inefficiency or corruption. But, apart from understanding the beltway, he has kept us out of a full on war with Russia. Many, younger presidents, have seen these events as a test of their strength, leading to head on aggression. Not Biden. As a mature politician, Biden works behind the scenes, trying to move people in his direction. A bi- partisan gun law will likely come about because of his influence. I believe he will f8nd a way to move the country forward after the SCOTUS abortion ruling. He will not thump his chest or walk like a silverback gorilla. As a statesman, he will bring us closer to where we should be. Thanks for giv8ng me a place to share this. Kathy Helmer