If 2016 is Clinton vs Bush

[merrily]

12. As soon as Jeb announced he was exploring, pundits began predicting very low turnout if it's

Bush v. Clinton in 2016.

Personally, I vote and urge everyone else to vote as well, but I agree that turnout will be low if it's Clinton v. Bush. And that is concerning, because, after 8 years of a Dem Pres, the right is likelier to turn out than the left, just as the left was likeliest to turn out in 2008 and the right was likeliest to turn out in 2000.

As far as Sotomayor and Kagan, we'll see what happens once Ginsburg is no longer on the court. As it is, Breyer and Kagan voted with Republicans in the part of the Obamacare case that struck down the option of the feds to withdraw Medicaid from states that refused to expand Medicaid according to the ACA (the much less publicized half of that case).

Some of the most liberal justices in the history of the Court, such as Warren and Stevens, were appointed by Republican Presidents, though I agree that is not likely to happen as the nation gets more divided. However as appointees get more Third Way, there is no guaranty that will always vote as traditional Democrats might prefer, either. I think it's just as important, if not more so, to figure out some way(s) to stop the general rightward movement of both of the two largest political Parties.