Whatever topics NBC’s moderators had picked out for Thursday’s 2020 Democratic primary debate, they are going to want to reshuffle that lineup.
Because the Supreme Court just handed down a big decision on gerrymandering. The Washington Examiner’s Melissa Quinn reports:
The court split 5-4 along ideological lines, with Chief Justice John Roberts writing for the conservative majority. The ruling effectively forecloses the courts to hearing future partisan gerrymandering claims.
Gerrymandering, Roberts explains in his opinion, is an issue that goes beyond the purview of the federal courts.
“Federal judges have no license to reallocate political power between the two major political parties,” he adds, “with no plausible grant of authority in the Constitution, and no legal standards to limit and direct their decisions.”
Further, Roberts notes, the high court has never ruled a partisan gerrymander unconstitutional, adding that if it were to go that route, it would lead to judicial authority extending its reach “into one of the most intensely partisan aspects of American political life.”
“Consideration of the impact of today’s ruling on democratic principles cannot ignore the effect of the unelected and politically unaccountable branch of the Federal Government assuming such an extraordinary and unprecedented role,” Roberts writes.
Within the GOP, the court’s decision is being hailed as a victory. “The Supreme Court has seen through the Democrats’ latest desperate lawsuit and confirmed that courts have no business deciding partisan political disputes over redistricting,” Republican State Leadership Committee President Austin Chambers said in a statement Thursday.
He adds, “This ruling is a major blow to the entire strategy cooked up by President Obama and Eric Holder. Democrats will continue to cherry pick liberal state courts in an attempt to ‘win’ what the U.S. Supreme Court has now rejected. It’s more important than ever that we have strong, conservative judges, instead of liberal activists in robes, in state courts across the country.”
On the Left, you can imagine they aren’t so happy.
You would have to be crazy to think this decision won’t be a major topic of discussion at the second 2020 Democratic primary debate Thursday evening. Democrats and their allies in the press have made allegations of GOP voter suppression tactics key to their electoral strategy, warning minority voters along the way that Republicans are disenfranchising them with underhanded methods (see: Stacey Abrams’ post-gubernatorial campaign message).
And the key to that voter suppression message is enshrining the idea that Republicans cannot win unless they cheat, including the use of partisan gerrymandering. There is no way, then, that the Supreme Court’s decision will not come up during Thursday’s debate. NBC’s moderators will absolutely tee up the Democratic candidates with softball questions that confirm perfectly to the party’s overarching narrative about Republican election theft.
