So this just happened…
The White House is considering Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval, a Republican centrist, as a potential nominee for the vacant seat on the Supreme Court, NBC News has confirmed.
On one hand, the fact that Obama may nominate a Republican may seem like good politics to highlight the coming Republican obstructionism in the senate as well as help ensure NV going blue in the general. But let’s be honest, this guy may as well be Bernie Sanders to the rabid tea baggers… he’s pro-gay marriage and pro-choice. This guy is a non-starter to the assholes who are pulling the strings of today’s GOP, it doesn’t matter what letter comes after his name.
As far as I am concerned, this guy looks like the typical Obama pick we have seen over the last 7 years… shoot straight for the center. It’s no news to anyone here that Obama doesn’t choose liberals for most posts, he seems to want to be embraced by the ever shrinking middle of the country… though in this case, I’m not sure why since he doesn’t face a future election. My mind keeps going back to the fact that Obama won NV in 2012 52-45, putting it in swing state territory.
Bottom line, this guy won’t be liked on the right because he is too liberal, and he won’t be liked on the left because he is too conservative.
However, Sandoval also signed into law last year a measure that exempts school construction projects from having to pay contractors wages considered industry standard in the area. While he hailed the move as a cost cutting measure, labor unions rallied to decry the effort.
See that… he really is a Republican.
Anyway, it doesn’t look like anything is official yet, like my title says, this is obviously a trial balloon to gauge reaction from the Senate. Should be fun to watch!