There will be confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Obama's appointment.  Mitch McConnell hoped to avoid them, but Grassley is the chairman, and he'll have hearings. The main reason McConnell is against the idea is that these hearings will be the focus of national attention, rivaling the campaign for president in media coverage.  The stakes on a judicial appointment have never been this high in our history.  The Supreme Court has evolved into a high-level political battleground, with Scalia's successor holding the balance of power – not only on the court, but, in a sense, for the country. Joe Biden wanted to run for president in 1987, and he used his post as chair of Senate Judiciary committee to launch full-scale war on Robert Bork.  He succeeded in killing Bork's Supreme Court appointment.  (That's how we wound up with Justice Kennedy.)  He naturally overestimated the good that it had...(Read Full Post)