The “Obama Bros,” a famous pair of speechwriters for former President Barack Obama, now co-host a podcast that they call “Pod Save America.”
During one of their show’s recent episodes, they discussed their deepest fears about November’s election. In their estimation, the great danger posed by a potential Trump win has to do with the Supreme Court. With Justices Thomas and Alito both in their mid-seventies, both are likely to die or retire during the next Presidential term. If Trump wins, it will solidify the current conservative majority for the next couple decades. If Biden wins, he may have the opportunity to switch the balance of the court from 6-3 in favor of conservative judicial philosophy to 6-3 in favor of progressive legal theory.
In his first term, President Trump appointed justices Kavenaugh, Gorsuch, and Barret. Should he win a second term this November, he will most likely get two more Supreme Court picks, which will make him one of the most consequential Presidents in history. All of his appointments will be below the age of sixty when he leaves office for good, which means they will have two decades or more to serve as Justices. More than that, Trump will have personally appointed five members of the nine-member court.
In the view of the Obama Bros, this means not just a “conservative” majority, but a “MAGA majority,” an eventuality they see as disastrous for the future of the United States. In the estimation of Pod Save America co-host Dan Pfeiffer, Democrats are making a serious error by not using this danger as the central issue of this year’s campaign season.
Making the Presidential election a direct referendum on the Supreme Court is not a new strategy. Republicans have used it successfully in their messaging since the 1970s as part of their long-term, and now successful, effort to overturn Roe vs. Wade. If Democrats were to adopt this strategy, Republicans would have little room to complain.
