Mitch McConnell’s problem is that Amy Comey Barrett’s confirmation is a sure thing.
In a word, boring, which means it flopped miserably as a diversion from the resurgent Covid-19 pandemic to draw voters’ attention away from personal troubles. (“Are you better off now than you were four years ago?” or something like that.)
“Republicans initially thought that a fast appointment of a conservative justice would help them in battleground states. After all, nothing rallies the conservative base like a Supreme Court appointment. However, given the likelihood of confirmation, the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings to confirm Amy Coney Barrett turned out to be fairly uneventful and relatively drama-free. Most importantly for Democrats, they have not taken America’s focus off the coronavirus,”
writes Susan Del Percio, a Republican strategist (read it here). And that has left vulnerable GOP senators exposed because,
“Now they find themselves having to explain why they have prioritized the confirmation of one Supreme Court justice over helping the millions who are suffering right now,”
referring to the Democrats’ scaled-down $2.2 trillion relief bill they’ve vowed not to pass. So McConnell has scheduled a vote on Covid-19 relief for Wednesday, the day before the Judiciary Committee expects to report out Barrett’s nomination to the Senate floor.
But McConnell will pass the relief bill he can pass, namely, the Republicans’ original $500 billion offer (read that story here), which is too little, too late, and nothing more than an empty gesture that will quietly die on the vine. And by then, tens of millions of people will already have voted. McConnell may lose his Senate majority.
Is Mitch McConnell losing his golden touch?