GOP sees Supreme Court fight as a boost to vulnerable senators as McConnell presses for vote [View all]

[andym]

https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/19/politics/republican-majority-strategy-vulnerable-senators/index.html
By Manu Raju, Alex Rogers and Ted Barrett, CNN
Updated 5:16 PM ET, Sat September 19, 202

" (CNN)Top Senate Republicans are privately arguing that it would boost their chances of holding the majority in November if their party makes a full-throated effort at confirming President Donald Trump's pick for the Supreme Court, according to multiple GOP sources, despite their past posture that such nominees should not be confirmed in a presidential election year.

Behind the scenes, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is calculating whether he has the votes to quickly confirm Trump's eventual nominee to the Supreme Court, focusing in large part on the party's most vulnerable Republicans facing voters in less than two months. The Kentucky Republican could only lose three senators of his 53-47 majority and still confirm the pick with a tie-breaking vote from Vice President Mike Pence.

The argument, according to Senate GOP sources, is that getting behind Trump's pick will energize the Republican base and woo conservative-leaning voters who are uncertain about backing Trump and the GOP this fall. Opposing the nominee, they argue, will only cause a backlash from their party's supporters and might not be enough to win over Democratic voters who are already inclined to back their opponents.

But moving ahead on a nomination now could anger some voters who may recoil at the GOP's heavy-handed tactics, including in Democratic-leaning states where Republicans face voters in the fall. On balance, though, Republicans say that moving ahead now would be far more beneficial to keeping control of the narrowly divided chamber."
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Could cut boith ways in my opinion. But if McConnell and friends really believe this, they will push ahead full steam.