McConnell tries to salvage Senate majority with court vote

Senate Majority Leer Mitch McConnell spent a year prepping his Republican colleagues for this moment, telling m confirmation a Supreme Court justice is most important vote y will take as senators, chance to make what he called seismic change that will stay with nation for generations to come.w, three weeks before Election Day , GOP leer needs this moment more than ever.

Confirmation hearings are set to begin Monday for President Donald Trump's Supreme Court minee giving Republicans one last chance to salv ir Senate majority by wresting attention away from White House and its COVID-19 response and onto GOP’s longtime goal of fashioning a conservative court.

arrival of conservative Judge Amy Coney Barrett offers a long-shot opportunity to bring wayward Republican voters back in fold. As Trump's standing drops in internal polls, McConnell hopes to remind voters why y stuck with Trump in 2016: promise of ar conservative justice ruling on abortion access and or big issues. Democrats are within range of seizing Senate control v. 3.

“It’s going to do what it’s going to do -- energize base,” said Doug Deason, a wealthy Dallas dor who is rrn Texas fundraising chairman for Trump and helps congressional Republicans.That’s optimistic view. It’s coming mostly from those Republicans and backers still pouring millions of dollars into campaign efforts to salv McConnell’s slim 53-47 GOP majority.

more dour assessment is that McConnell is simply trying to grab whatever he can before he and his majority are out door.“To me, it just indicates a clear lack of confidence in Donald Trump and se Senate races,” said Stuart Stevens, a veteran Republican strategist who helmed Mitt Romney's 2012 campaign and w is among those trying to defeat Trump.

Democrats need to gain at least three seats to win Senate majority if presidential minee Joe Biden is elected, or four if Trump wins a second-term, because party’s vice president can vote as a tie-breaker in Senate.

What started as an election cycle with just a handful of senators at risk has ballooned into an expanding Senate map from Alaska to inter-mountain West to Deep South as Republicans face tough challenges, while Democrats see few.Alarms are flashing red throughout Republican Senate campaigns after Trump's overbearing debate performance and COVID diagsis sent party's poll numbers cratering, particularly among suburban white women and moms who helped elect him in 2016.

One Republican vising in Senate and House races called it worst presidential dive in U.S. history — one that is bringing entire GOP ticket down with it. It's something amount of money can fix, person said. strategist, like ors interviewed for this story, were granted anymity to frankly assess situation.

In group meetings and one on one, McConnell started raising prospect of a Supreme Court vacancy last year, according to a person close to leer.He told m legislating can bring incremental changes but as senators y have few opportunities to make more substantial, lasting shift that comes with a lifetime appointment to court.

“He is personally, deeply committed to getting a great Supreme Court justice on court,” said David McIntosh, president of conservative Club for Growth who has worked with McConnell on judicial minees for years, back to Ronald Reagan’s failed mination of Robert Bork to court.

With death of Justice Ruth Ber Ginsburg Sept. 18, plan was alrey set. Only two GOP senators balked at quick confirmation. hearings will spotlight Sen. Lindsey Graham, chairman of Judiciary Committee, who faces his own competitive re-election in South Carolina, where Democrat Jaime Harrison in raising millions to defeat him.

panel includes Thom Tillis in rth Carolina, who was in a tough race until opponent Cal Cunningham was caught up in a text-messaging scandal; and Texas Sen. John Cornyn, a party leer, is suddenly fielding off a challenger; and Sen. Joni Ernst, who is up for re-election in Iowa.

confirmation battle could also bolster Sen. Martha McSally in Arizona, who is trailing former astronaut Mark Kelly, and it could help stem sudden slide in GOP strongholds — Steve Daines in Montana, Kelly Loeffler in Georgia or in Kansas where Sen. Pat Roberts is retiring, strategists said.

On flip side, court battle is less helpful for Sens. Susan Collins in Maine and Cory Gardner in Coloro and and Ernst in Iowa, where Trump was alrey less popular and w a drag on GOP ticket.Even far-flung races like Mike Espy’s challenge to Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith in Mississippi are commanding attention and suddenly costing Republicans money to defend. televised hearings are likely to rake in cash for Democrats, with Vice Presidential candidate Kamala Harris taking her own center st role as a member of Judiciary Committee.

McConnell’s strategy is opposite of one Republicans used to boost turut in 2016 when y blocked Barack Obama’s minee nine months before election, saying it should be up to new president to decide. high court confirmation in history is as close to a presidential election as this one.This time, it's much about securing his own legacy reshaping judiciary into what allies call “McConnell Court” as giving his majority a landing p after a tumultuous four years with Trump.

Republican senators linked mselves indelibly to Trump’s political movement, so much so that historian Douglas Brinkley has called it “shrink” of Senate — without that big name senators Americans may recall from history.Many of senators expected to run alongside Trump to ar term. n COVID-19 hit, ecomy crumbled and Americans’ way of life ground to a halt.

pressure was on McConnell, who is running for a seventh term in Kentucky without serious risk of defeat, t to wait until after v. 3 election.“More important to finish out job,” McIntosh said.

Having alrey bent Senate rules to allow 51-vote threshold to vance Supreme Court minees, rar than 60 as was trition, McConnell is w poised to usher a third Trump justice to confirmation.Critics have ar view.“It’s t going to be remembered as McConnell Court,” said Stevens. “His legacy is going to be Donald Trump's enabler.”

(Im Credit: AP)