On MSNBC this evening, Chris Matthews cautioned Democratic Senators that if they vote to confirm Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, they will have to answer for it for the rest of their political career.
His reasoning was a supremely political one: that at age 49, Gorsuch is likely to be on the Court for 30 years. And that any Dem voting to confirm him would have to answer, over all those years, for his decisions on controversial issues such as abortion and gun rights: “it will be on you,” warned Matthews.
Note: Earlier, Matthews predicted that the Gorsuch nomination will fail because Senate Majority Leader MitchMcConnell will not invoke the “nuclear option.” And since, according to Matthews, no Dems will vote to confirm, the nomination will fall short of the required 60 votes.
This Insurrectionist disagrees. No matter how much McConnell reveres Senate tradition, he will not let such a qualified jurist, and Trump’s first Court nominee, go down to ignominious defeat. If push comes to shove, I predict that McConnell will invoke the nuclear option, and Gorsuch will be confirmed on a simple-majority vote.
CHRIS MATTHEWS: The key thing here is, the guy’s 49. And Gorsuch again, he’s probably a good guy. Like Scalia was — I really liked the company of Scalia. He’s a very family-minded, good guy and his way of looking at life generally, if not the Court. But for 49, that means he will be on that Court for 30 years. That means the life of anybody in politics today, their political career. They will have to answer for this guy.Can you imagine, a Democrat, I don’t care if you’re from Alaska, you’re from North Dakota. Wherever you’re from, you’re goint to have to answer for almost a true lifetime multigenerational career on the Court. Every ruling this guy Gorsuch makes, is a decisive vote in, in any way influences your belief about Citizens United, about abortion rights, about gay, equal marriage, equality of marriage.Any one of the issues you care about: gun rights, every time he votes the wrong way it’s going to be on you. So I’m not encouraging these guys to think left and think future but they are damn well going to do it. They’re thinking about their own futures and you don’t want to have on your belt the notch that says “I voted for Gorsuch. I’m proud of it.”So I think it’s 52 votes maximum. We’re going to have a real fight here, a real fight over that 60-vote threshold.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY