This is the real ground game for the Republicans, isn't it?

It doesn't matter the candidate, it is the Supreme Court Republicans are voting for this November. It doesn't matter if the nuclear war games are on and the USA enters an ill conceived war in the Middle East again, just so long as the Republicans own the Supreme Court.

September 19, 2016
By Noah Feldman

If Hillary Clinton wins in November, (click here) will the lame-duck Republican Senate confirm Judge Merrick Garland to the U.S. Supreme Court? Last week, Clinton said she would look for diversity and wouldn’t feel bound to renominate Garland, which in theory should give Republican senators more reason to confirm Garland, before Clinton can nominate a more liberal candidate.

Yet a careful analysis of Republican senators’ incentives in the case of a Democratic win in November points the other way. If Republicans lose the presidency, the party will enter an intense period of self-reflection and disarray. And if they also lose the Senate, the disarray will be greater still.

Under those conditions, it seems most likely that Republican senators wouldn’t want the final act of their majority session to be acquiescence to the judicial candidate nominated by President Barack Obama. Instead, looking to future primary challenges, they’ll have reason to reject Garland by denying him a vote -- even if that may lead to a more liberal Supreme Court in the long run....