Feb. 15--"We've always gone through periods when our democracy seems stuck. And when that happens, we have to find a new way of doing business. We're in one of those moments."
President Barack Obama, Springfield, Feb. 10, 2016.
When President Obama uttered those words in Illinois last week, urging bipartisan cooperation, he could not have guessed how relevant they would soon become -- or how quickly they would be disregarded.
The death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, alas, quickly sent partisans to their battle stations. Republicans vowed to block any nominee, arguing that the decision should not be made by a lame-duck president. Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid retorted, "Failing to fill this vacancy would be a shameful abdication of one of the Senate's most essential constitutional responsibilities."
The president has indicated he will submit a nomination. The question is: What kind? If Obama is sincere in his wish for a new spirit of compromise, he can demonstrate it, and perhaps inspire it, by looking for someone acceptable to reasonable people on either side of the aisle.
Senate Republicans don't hold all the cards here. If they appear obstructionist, they could not only damage the GOP presidential nominee but torpedo some of the incumbent Republican senators facing re-election this year -- including Mark Kirk of Illinois. Republican leader Mitch McConnell has to wonder whether holding to a hard line on the court vacancy could mean losing the Senate.
Obama obviously is not going to win over the opposition party with a liberal dream candidate -- the Democratic version of Scalia. If he is to have any hope of getting his nominee approved, the candidate will have to be a Democratic version of John Roberts or Anthony Kennedy -- experienced, respected legal figures who, from their records, could not be counted as automatic votes for one side.
What Obama should be looking for is someone who sees the role of a justice much like Roberts outlined it in his confirmation hearings: "Judges are like umpires. Umpires don't make the rules; they apply them. The role of an umpire and a judge is critical. They make sure everybody plays by the rules, but it is a limited role." Roberts and Kennedy, appointed by Republican presidents, have sometimes disappointed Republicans.
There is no shortage of candidates who would verify Obama's willingness to meet the other side halfway. One is Sri Srinivasan, who served in the Solicitor General's Office under President George W. Bush and Obama and was confirmed for the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit by a unanimous vote of the Senate. Another is Merrick Garland, chief judge of that court, who is considered a moderate.
