Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, who for weeks has avoided saying whether he supports expanding the Supreme Court, said Monday that he is “not a fan” of expanding the number of seats on the Supreme Court.
Uh, Joe - you should read Josh’s piece from yesterday. Stop using the Republicans’ term “Pack the Court” when talking about what you may or may not do. Expand, enhance, adjust, correct for Republican abuses … lots of alternative words and phrases out there.
Four years of President Biden, followed by 8 years of President Harris, will certainly see SCOTUS vacancies open up to allow the court to be repaired.
Not precisely how I would’ve phrased it but holy moly, a Dem is fighting back!!
Court packing has been going on for four years.
The Lord sayth "Accuse thy opponent of that which you transgress; then reap glory from confusion and contempt that you have sown”
Or when describing republican actions…
GO TEAM!
//sn//
‘Court packing’ has been going on since the Reactionary controlled Senate began to refuse to consider Obama’s judicial nominees at any level.
That means at least 8 years, with the preparation to have many vacancies to fill.
Saying it’s a Reactionary project is the line to take. But, let’s get the time line right.
Joe:
See suggestion above - read Josh’s piece and don’t parrot the propaganda phrasing of your opponents.
You need to use the term “theft” and “stealing” to highlight what Mitch McConnell did to President Obama’s selection of Merrick Garland. This needs to be front and center in every discussion of Supreme Court nominees. Don’t let the public forget that a vacancy which occurred 9 months before an election was blocked, while a vacancy which occurred 1 month before an election is being rushed through despite the dangers of COVID-19 and turning the Senate’s back on the relief that the American people desperately need.
Remind the public that all norms that have been broken have already been done by Mitch McConnell. Don’t fall into the trap of defending possible norms that you may or may not bypass in the future as a result of McConnell’s trashing of Senate tradition and decorum.
I think ‘pack the courts,’ with all the baggage it freights, should be used to talk about what the Reactionaries have done. An alternative has to be reserved for the Democrats efforts to correct the abuse, so as to avoid tarring themselves in the process of describing a needed amelioration of the wounds Moscow Mitch has inlicted on the polity.
I like the way he answered this. He says he’s not a fan, but does not entirely close the door on the possibility. Let Republicans twist themselves trying to make this an issue in the upcoming election. I don’t think this is a pressing issue for the majority of people.
Biden is hoping that Dem voters are smart enough to understand that he has to be very careful with what he says. He doesn’t want turn off independents and he wants to possibly change the minds of some lean-Trumpers.
Unfortunately, not all Dem voters are as smart as they should be. They don’t understand how politics work and they decide to undermine the candidate and/or not vote. Hopefully, those Dems won’t deliver us into four more years of hell.
Yes, but need the senate too. And not just for the first two years, which is what Obama had.
It’s like there’s this reality bubble around establishment Dems that prevents them from hearing legitimate and constructive criticism from outside this bubble or even seeing reality for what it is and not what they think or want to believe or are told it is, or what it used to be but no longer is. He’s falling for their trap by using the term “court packing”, when he should refer to it as “court expansion”, “natural growth” or “court unpacking”. It’s like they’re always in overdrive and never pause to stop and reflect and get back in sync with contemporary reality and maybe take in some outside advice.
Perhaps the pressures of operating inside the bubble make this very difficult if not impossible, with one always looking over one’s shoulder to see who’s catching up or looking to take them down. Plus, the kind of ego required to operate in and reach the highest levels inside this bubble tends to preclude listening to others. But someone has to get to him and get him to change how he talks about this, so as to not validate RWTPs and make it harder for Dems to EXPAND and UNPACK the courts next year. Because if they don’t, it’s game over, and everything they pass can and will eventually be overturned.
It would be easy to miss it. TPM coverage of the Biden/Harris Campaign has been minimal for days now.
Exactly. It’s yet ANOTHER distraction to stay away from Trump’s health, taxes and corruption. It looks like the media is going go after it. Even TPM…‘Joe Biden, who for weeks has avoided saying whether he supports expanding the Supreme Court’…c’mon. Let’s talk COVID, taxes, policies. What’s going to be DIFFERENT? What are we going to do for this COUNTRY? But no, let’s chase the NEWEST shiny object which is total BS…how about them emails media?
Straight. Up. Troll. Go away.
He was answering the question as it was phrased to him.
I agree he should shift the discussion from packing to balancing.
But he’s NOT being careful with what he says, using RW terms for this. No Dem should EVER use the term “court packing” except when referring to what Repubs have been doing since Bush II stole the 2000 election. Including that liar idiot misogynist Thomas, literally every Repub on the court is there illegitimately, their majority equally illegitimate.