The Supreme Court Fight Is Energizing Democrats More Than Republicans

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A few days ago I suggested that Republicans were already so energized by Supreme Court choices that a new vacancy could hardly energize them even more. Democrats, on the other hand, had never given the court as much attention, which meant the new vacancy could potentially energize them a lot. A new Washington Post poll confirms this:

There are a couple of caveats here. First, don’t take this to mean that Republicans aren’t energized. They are. They just aren’t a lot more energized than they’ve always been. Second, the same poll asks which issues are most important. The Supreme Court landed in sixth place, with only 11 percent choosing it. So it might be that the fight over the Supreme Court turns out not to be pivotal after all.

But I suspect otherwise. The fighting has barely begun, and a few weeks from now a whole lot more people will have been bombarded with jeremiads about how the future of civilization depends on what happens to the Supreme Court. This will heat up soon enough.

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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