Thread by @gbponz

Of course this will start a whole new political battleground.
#RuthBaderGinsburg passing away, while the campaign is in initial swing, will have mixed consequences. @amlivemon @Halsrethink @vtchakarova @RobertMCutler @nglinsman (1/5)

https://twitter.com/nprpolitics/status/1307100733204881410

both camps will try to play as favourably as possible to help their candidate, and both have weaknesses: #McConnell refusing to confirm #Obama's indication in 2016 will preclude instating a new Supreme Court judge until after the new President is sitting.(2/5)

Yet I honestly do not expect Republicans to do a big fight about that. They have also very little problems indicating suitable candidates. Democrats, however, have a problem, which is exponentially bigger now: choosing a Supreme Court candidate will alienate someone. (3/5)

One of the reasons Dem candidates want to shy away from open question formats is not any fear of Republican questions: it's a terror of being asked a stance on something controversial for the TWO souls of the party, the "moderate" and the "radical".(4/5)

Picking a name apt to keep both parts happy would be very hard for a Biden presidency in 2022. Now, he must do that on top of NOT alienating moderate indipendent/dem voters in swing states. Hard job.(end)

on.wsj.com/2RIhyBY " Joe Biden has declined to release a similar list, perhaps because his campaign feels it would betray liberal choices that would motivate conservative voters for whom the Court has become a dominant issue. "