The death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia today set off a scramble in a deeply polarized Washington over his replacement on the court. Within hours of the announcement of Scalia’s death, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said a vote should wait for the next president to be elected. He and the Republican majority in the Senate can impose extensive delays on any confirmation vote.
But if Obama is able to get consideration for a nominee, history and common sense suggest that it will be very difficult for him to win approval for judicial candidates with the qualifications and ideological backgrounds of his first two nominees, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. CONT.
Harry Enten, FiveThirtyEight