The most vulnerable Senate Republican thinks Justice Anthony Kennedy’s retirement is a golden gift:
Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.), facing a difficult re-election battle in the 2018 midterms, predicted in March that Kennedy would retire this year. Kennedy leaving the bench could “get our base a little motivated,” Heller said at an event in Las Vegas, according to audio from Politico.
Kennedy, who was raised in Sacramento, California, began his law career in private practice. He went on to teach law at the University of the Pacific’s McGeorge School of Law and served on multiple judicial boards and committees.
He became more prominent in the legal world after President Gerald Ford nominated him to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, on which he served until his appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Kennedy leans conservative, but he has often broken with the court’s right wing in key cases, including in several landmark gay rights cases. He has been the deciding vote in some high-profile cases, including Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the 2010 ruling that rolled back some restrictions on campaign finance, and Boumediene v. Bush, in which the court found that Guantanamo Bay detainees have the right to appeal their detention.
Kennedy, however, has bristled at his “swing vote” reputation.
“Kennedy is going to retire around sometime early summer,” Heller predicted in Las Vegas last week, according to audio of an event he spoke at that was obtained by POLITICO. “Which I’m hoping will get our base a little motivated because right now they’re not very motivated. But I think a new Supreme Court justice will get them motivated.”
The 45-minute recording of the media-shy Heller shows a senator defending President Donald Trump repeatedly, breaking only delicately with the president on issues like trade and gun control. It’s in line with the tightrope Heller has to walk to have any hope of winning reelection against a Trump-inspired Republican primary opponent and a highly touted Democratic general election challenger — in a state that Hillary Clinton won in 2016.
Heller can't afford to lose conservatives by breaking with Trump, yet must keep a lane to the center open to win a general election. It’s the trickiest political equation facing any GOP senator on the ballot this year.
Matthew Yglesias’ latest
Vox article disgustingly praises Mitch McConnell as the “most effective politician of our time” and makes the condescending theory that progressives are going to be stupid and sit out the midterms now:
Part of the genius of his shameless Calvinballing is that it not only blocks the opposition party, it frustrates them. Angry and frightened by the prospect of the Supreme Court moving further rightward, much of the progressive base is inevitably going to take out their rage not on Trump, McConnell, and vulnerable Senate Republicans like Dean Heller (R-NV) but on Democrats for not being able to make the right tactical choices to block him — just as much of the progressive rank-and-file reacted to disappointment with Democrats’ legislative productivity in 2009-2010 by sitting out the midterms.
Well, I say fuck you, Yglesias. He clearly hasn’t been paying attention to our momentum. As for Heller, it’s been disgusting how much he’s sucked up to Trump:
Vulnerable Republican Senator Dean Heller appears to have warmed to President Donald Trump's divisive travel ban.
Heller, once an outspoken Trump critic who has sidled up to the president ahead of a tough re-election fight, on Tuesday applauded the Supreme Court's narrow decision to uphold an executive order barring individuals in several mostly Muslim countries from entering the United States.
“Sen. Heller believes that the Supreme Court got this right,” spokeswoman Megan Taylor wrote in a statement. “The policy reviewed was significantly narrowed in scope compared to the initial version of the travel ban, and the court’s ruling affirmed its legality based on legitimate national security interests.”
The statement seemed to mark a major shift for Nevada's senior senator, who in 2015 joined a bipartisan chorus of critics opposed to then-candidate Trump's rough-hewn plan to block Muslims from entering the U.S.
Whereas Heller’s opponent, Rep. Jacky Rosen (D. NV), has made it clear she’s not afraid to stand up to Trump:
Rep. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) fired back at President Trump on Saturday after he dubbed her "Wacky Jacky" during a campaign speech in Nevada.
“The President is attacking me with lies and petty insults because I’m not afraid to stand up to him," Rosen said in a statement after the rally. "Dean Heller has been a rubber stamp for Donald Trump in Washington, caving to the President’s divisive agenda at Nevada’s expense. This was Senator Heller’s reward for his loyalty.”
Rosen, who is challenging Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) in this fall's midterm elections, was singled out by Trump during the Nevada state GOP convention.
In fact, she’s using the Supreme Court vacancy as a weapon against Heller:
But Heller’s opponent, Rep. Jacky Rosen, saw the Court vacancy as an opportunity to press Heller on the politics of abortion. She said in a tweet that the “future of the Supreme Court is now fully in play.” Rosen retweeted Planned Parenthood and NARAL, two pro-choice advocacy groups that raised alarms about the future of Roe v. Wade if Trump’s pick is confirmed and signaled they would be heavily invested in fighting against the eventual nominee.
“Senator Heller wants you to vote for him because he'll rubber stamp another nominee from President Trump, who could jeopardize Roe v. Wade and undermine coverage protections for pre-existing conditions,” Rosen said.
It’s time to make hack writers like Yglesias eat their own words and show that us progressives aren't’ idiots. Click below to donate and get involved with Rosen and her fellow Nevada Democrats’ campaigns:
Jacky Rosen for U.S. Senate
Steve Sisolak for Governor
Kate Marshall for Lt. Governor
Aaron Ford for Attorney General
Dina Titus for Congress
Susie Lee for Congress
Steven Horsford for Congress
Nelson Araujo for Secretary of State
Zach Conine for Treasurer
Catherine Byrne for Controller