Conservatives willing to risk losing Senate to sabotage Scalia-replacement.

http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/270102-conservatives-court-nominee-must-be-stopped-at-all-costs

Conservative leaders are sending a blunt message to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell: The Supreme Court is more important than your majority.

McConnell’s (R-Ky.) top priority since becoming majority leader last year has been to put his colleagues in a strong position to win reelection, in part by showing that Republicans can govern.

But bottling up President Obama’s nominee to replace the late conservative Justice Antonin Scalia could bring the work of the chamber to a screeching halt if Democrats choose to retaliate.

Conservatives say that’s the risk McConnell has to take.

...

They argue the ideological balance of the court is so important that it’s not worth playing political games to take the pressure off vulnerable Republican incumbents.

“I would rank having a conservative justice as more important than having the majority in the Senate,” said David Bozell, president of For America, a conservative advocacy group. “God knows this Republican majority in the Senate hasn’t done much anyway for conservatism, period."

...

“The issues that are of great concern to the conservative movement have all been decided by the Supreme Court,” he added.

...

Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) wrote in a Washington Post op-ed that if Republicans refused to hold hearings, they would be remembered as the “most nakedly obstructionist and irresponsible majority in history.”

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is hitting vulnerable incumbents for not doing their jobs, and newspapers around the country are following suit.

...

“Certainly there’s nervousness on the part of Republicans about what an absolute refusal to hold any hearings might do to GOP candidates in swing states,” said John Ullyot, a GOP aide and former senior Senate aide. “If Republicans hold hearings, that takes a lot of the pressure off their candidates in swing states who are in some cases in tough races.”

But conservatives warn that holding hearings on a nominee would open Pandora’s box, potentially leading to a floor vote.




Let's end on a comedic note:
“What is the purpose of having a majority unless you use that majority to defend, uphold and defend the Constitution? ...” said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council.
(Btw, nobody cares what the Constitution says about replacing Supreme Court Judges.)

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So, Republicans are sabotaging the re-election-chances of fellow Senate-Republicans in order to ensure that Sanders/Clinton can pick a nominee... I'm fine with that.