Obama should nominate Joe Biden, an ex-Senator - one of their "club"

[Arazi]

who they'd have a very difficult time blocking imo

I really like and respect him and I believe his former fellow colleagues do as well

[awake]

1. Great idea

[jfern]

2. The nominee should be young

[Arazi]

4. Thinking strategically we need to fill this seat under Obama

i can let the age thing go when considering getting a nominee through this Senate

[roguevalley]

22. I want a real academic LIBERAL.

[exboyfil]

6. Never would get confirmed

This might be the best option or roll the dice for the next election

If his first nominee is bounced it would be interesting lets say 3 months or so before the election to put himself up for the nomination.

Getting 60 votes for cloture is almost impossible in this environment. I am not even sure he could find 50 votes. Precedence does exist for bouncing lame duck nominations.

[TwilightGardener]

3. Joe would enjoy it. I think he should.

[Depaysement]

5. Plagiarize a Fordham Law Review article

Probably not getting it.

[Arazi]

7. His defense was a misinterpretation of the rules for citing sources

It was a first year law school course iirc and didn't sink his Senate campaign when it came out since even the law school agreed with Biden

But yeah, that's a black mark no doubt but I'm not so sure it's a deal breaker. Hard to say. He has successfully fended off this incident a few times

[Depaysement]

11. Even so

He's 73. Someone 63 probably gives you an extra 10 years with a progressive Justice.

Not happening.

[Arazi]

12. I actually think his age works for confirmation

the republicans are going to be rabidly opposed to anyone young (yeah, they're going to be rabid about anyone but still)

Biden assures them it's a "shorter term". A gamble for sure

[bettyellen]

13. Not for me it doesn't. Healthy younger and liberal.

[Arazi]

15. In my dream world I agree

in this congressional reality, I say theres going to be a lot of compromising to get anyone nominated.

My first priority is that seat is filled with a liberal Dem

[Depaysement]

14. I'd appoint the first Asian American

Denny Chin or Jackie Nyguen.

Both qualified Dems. Watch the Repukes squirm.

[Arazi]

16. Dream candidates and ones I fully support

would love that but I think it's going to take a lot of compromising to get any nominee through

[TwilightGardener]

8. Think it through--Joe lost his son last year, gave up his obvious dream for running for

President--I don't think they'll put him through the wringer or deny him. He has a lot of goodwill in the Senate even among Repubs.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

9. O'Malley?

[enough]

10. He is too old. The age of the nominee is a very serious issue.

The Supreme Court ain't beanbag.

[shraby]

17. I agree. I want a liberal someone who will be there for a long long time.

[Jim Lane]

18. And if Biden's confirmed, Obama could nominate a woman or one of the Castro brothers as VP

My first reaction was the age thing, but I see your point. If a Republican wins the Presidency, Biden hangs on as long as he can. He seems pretty healthy and might make it to the next Democratic administration. If a Democrat wins, Biden serves on SCOTUS for a while, then bows out gracefully while the new Democratic President has plenty of time to pick his successor, and no one can plausibly raise the "lame duck" argument.

[Arazi]

19. It's a gamble but one I think may be the best option at the moment

And raising the profile of a young superstar Dem like Castro or Harris or squee! Barbara Lee (pick one any one, I like them all!) would be a godsend

[Jim Lane]

20. The contrary gamble is to play for the 2016 Presidential vote

In this scenario, Obama nominates a young, healthy, sitting judge -- the kind of person who would have been confirmed without incident a few decades ago. If the GOP blocks the nomination, then the Democratic nominee for President can use that as a GOTV motivator.

[Arazi]

21. Hmm, plausible but the "mood" on both sides is contrarian

I'm not sure ANY young candidate would be seen as UN-controversial right now. History is being re-written that Republicans "caved" on too many things. The myths are being calcified as "truths" on the right - a young, easy-to-be confirmed Justice would be spun as a myth.

And honestly, I'd say the same thing on the Dem side. We're all re-writing history, getting calcified in our dogma

[Jim Lane]

23. Right, I was assuming such a nominee would be blocked.

The idea would be that, instead of giving the Republicans a compromise in the form of a fairly old candidate who'd probably serve only a few years, Obama would nominate exactly the person he really wants. The Republicans would vote the nomination down or more likely refuse to even bring it to a vote. Then Clinton or Sanders or whoever is the Democratic nominee would point to that obstructionism as further evidence of GOP bad faith. Some swing voters might be persuaded to vote Democratic as a result of the SCOTUS nomination fight.

[Arazi]

24. I just don't think there's enough who'd care frankly

Obstructionism has worked well for the Republicans. Their base eats it up