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UP FRONTMonday 15 February 2016

Supreme Court vacancy is tangible test for 2016 candidates

JULIE PACE President Barack Obama speaks to reporters about the death of Associate Justice Antonin Scalia at Omni Rancho Las Palmas in
AP White House Correspon- Rancho Mirage, CA. Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016. Obama declared Saturday night that he would seek to fill the Supreme Court seat
dent left vacant by the death of Scalia, charging into a heated and likely prolonged election-year fight with Republicans in Congress.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama said a nomination was “bigger than any one party.”
stakes in the U.S. presiden-
tial election just got higher. Associated Press
The unexpected death of
Supreme Court Justice An- Court,” Clinton said. vote probably would be second in the Iowa cau- from Republican primary
tonin Scalia — and the im- Clinton has said she would months away, leaving the cuses. voters about the ideologi-
mediate declaration from have “a bunch of litmus Supreme Court in the cen- Trying to counter Sanders’ cal purity of their judicial
Republicans that the next tests” for potential nomi- ter of the campaign during momentum, Clinton has choices.
president should nominate nees, including a belief that the nomination process. urged voters to consider Cruz is using the potential
his replacement — adds the Citizens United ruling With three other justices which candidate is most vacancy to build on his
even more weight to the clearing the way for super over the age of 75, the next electable in November. long-standing argument
decision voters will make in political action committees president could have other With the balance of the that Republicans should
November’s general elec- and unlimited campaign vacancies during his or her Supreme Court now po- select a nominee with the
tion. contributions should be tenure, even if Obama fills tentially on the line, Clinton most conservative creden-
The court now is divided overturned. She also said Scalia’s seat. and her allies are certain tials. An uncompromising
between four liberal and the court’s makeup is cru- It’s unclear how the new fo- to increase their warnings conservative since arriving
four typically conservative cial to preserving abortion cus on the Supreme Court about the risk of sending a in the Senate, Cruz vowed
justices, putting the ideo- rights and the legality of might affect voters’ deci- self-declared democratic to put “principled constitu-
logical tilt up for grabs. Sca- gay marriage nationwide. sions in an election that has socialist to face a Republi- tionalists” on the Supreme
lia, a hero to conservatives Vermont Sen. Bernie Sand- seen surprising and uncon- can in the fall. Court. He contends Trump
during his nearly 30 years ers, who is challenging ventional candidates such “For any Democrat think- could not be trusted to do
on the Supreme Court, was Clinton for the Democratic as billionaire businessman ing about casting a protest the same.
found dead Saturday at a nomination, has raised op- Donald Trump and Sanders vote for Sen. Sanders, this “Donald Trump is president,
resort ranch in West Texas. position to Citizens United challenge their parties’ es- should serve as a wake-up he will appoint liberals,”
For months, the candidates as a requirement for any tablishments. call for what’s exactly at said Cruz, noting the bil-
have espoused theoretical, Supreme Court nominees. Previous political thunder- stake,” said Jim Manley, a lionaire’s past support for
sometimes vague, policy Obama pledged to nomi- bolts that were supposed former aide to top Demo- Democratic politicians.
proposals. Now, the pros- nate a replacement in to push voters toward more cratic senators. During Saturday’s debate,
pect of President Barack “due time,” even after Sen- traditional candidates, Among Republicans, Flor- Kasich bemoaned that
Obama’s successor nomi- ate Majority Leader Mitch such as last fall’s terrorist ida Sen. Marco Rubio, for- Washington and presiden-
nating a Supreme Court McConnell said that re- attacks in Paris and Cali- mer Florida Gov. Jeb Bush tial candidates had “run so
justice immediately after sponsibility should fall to the fornia, passed without any and Ohio Gov. John Ka- fast into politics” following
taking office offers a more winner of the 2016 election. negative impact on Trump sich are casting themselves Scalia’s death.
tangible way for voters to Obama could try to ram a and Sanders. In fact, Sand- as candidates who could But if anything, the speed
evaluate the contenders. nominee through the Sen- ers has strengthened since appeal to swing voters in at which politics did take
Candidates in both parties ate this year, taking a high then, with the economic- the general election and over portends a furious fight
moved quickly to reframe court vacancy off the next focused Vermont senator put Republicans in posi- to come over which candi-
the election as a referen- president’s immediate to- handily defeating Clinton tion to guide the next court date gets to put his or her
dum on the high court’s fu- do list. Even if that were to in the New Hampshire pri- nominations. But that could imprint on the court.q
ture. With the happen, a confirmation mary and finishing a close open them up to questions
“Two branches of govern-
ment hang in the balance,
not just the presidency,
but the Supreme Court,”
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said
in the latest Republican
presidential debate, held
in South Carolina just hours
after word filtered out
Saturday about Scalia’s
death in Texas. “If we get
this wrong, if we nominate
the wrong candidate, the
Second Amendment, life,
marriage, religious liberty,
every one of those hangs in
the balance.” The Second
Amendment of the U.S.
Constitution guarantees
the right to bear arms.
Democratic candidate Hill-
ary Clinton painted a simi-
larly stark scenario.
“If any of us needed a re-
minder of just how impor-
tant it is to take back the
United States Senate and
hold onto the White House,
just look at the Supreme