Defense Wins Championships

While it's true that a Democratic president would likely be maintaining the status quo with regard to the Supreme Court personnel, it's also true that appointing justices is not the only way a new president could impact the Court.

First, a Democratic-controlled legislature and a Democratic executive could work to right the wrongs of the Supreme Court -- e.g., the "Ledbetter" Fair Pay Act -- and reverse some of the Court's more egregious decisions.

Second, a Democratic president could act unilaterally to end the constitutional violations that the Supreme Court refused to fix, such as overturning executive orders and closing Guantanamo.

Third, a Democratic executive would have a lot of power to change to policies of the administrative state, which would have the effect of removing many thorny issues from the Supreme Court's review -- for example, the legal challenge over the EPA refusing to allow California to regulate emissions would simply become moot with a change in EPA policy.

Sure, sure, it would be playing defense. But what's so bad about defense?

- A