Interesting strategy article in the New York Times on President Obama’s plan for winning confirmation of his nominee to fill the vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court.

The plan seems to be to nominate someone with impeccable credentials who’s enjoyed broad Republican support in previous confirmation hearings and count on pressure from the public, said by polling to be solidly opposed to the Republican Party of opposition no matter what.

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Speculation now centers on three potential nominees, all federal circuit court judges: Sri Srinivasan, 49, who was confirmed in 2013 with a 97-to-0 vote; Merrick B. Garland, 63, a moderate who has been a finalist in Mr. Obama’s previous Supreme Court searches; and Paul J. Watford, 48, a judge on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in California.

A pick could come as early as today.

Popular support for proper functioning of government is a nice thing. But it hasn’t stopped unilateral Republican obstructionism during two Obama terms and Republican numbers have increased in Congress over that period of time. So ….. 

A liberal has to have some concerns that the president will bend over too far to accommodate Republican philosophical preferences. What if an Obama appointee become the equivalent of a Democratic president’s David Souter, the Republican choice who proved such a disappointment to Republicans with his pragmatic approach.

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