CNN expert Michael Smerconish is on TV right now saying he wished the Supremes had fleshed out their rejection of Paxton’s suit — perhaps using language similar to that of some of the lower courts to the effect that lawyers don’t elect the president, voters do, and so on.
He’s dead wrong. Once the Supremes determined Paxton didn’t have standing, they were done. No court can ramble — once it has described the reason for its ruling, it’s over. Anything else it says is no more worthy of deference than the opinions of the guy at the end of the bar. It’s called obiter dicta — commentary without the force of law.