this, remember, is replacing a conservative justice scalia with, obviously, another conservative. what the conservative groups really hoped for is to get one of the seats of somebody who is going to retire soon, and they wonder when that s anthony kennedy, and they hope by putting neil gorsuch on the court, doesn t make kennedy think, uh-oh, there goads the neighborhood. i better stay. nina, in your view, is this net-net, unchanged, status quo, basically going from scalia to gorsuch if confirmed? i m sure there s some issues on which they disagree and would have different outcomes, but, basically, this is a conservative seat that will be occupied by a conservative if he s confirm, and if he s not confirmed, they ll name another conservative this is going to be a conservative seat. pete is right, though.
have different outcomes, but, basically, this is a conservative seat that will be occupied by a conservative if he s confirm, and if he s not confirmed, they ll name another conservativ this is going to be a conservative seat. pete is right, though. the next battle for the next seat, if there is one, and there s every possibility there could be one, is where the rubber meets the road, to use the cliche, and for the last six months, conservatives have been saying privately that kennedy either was willing to resign, was getting close to resigning, that he really would like to resign. truth is, they would like him to retire. and i don t know what justice kennedy s feelings are about it, but at minimum, they hope that a justice gorsuch could drag justice kennedy away from the liberal block where he sided
religious liberty, important to conservatives. there s a second reason here, brian. the fact is he mentioned that he had clerked for justice anthony kennedy. justice kennedy went to denver when he was sworn in, so he s friendly person for justice kennedy, and the conservative groups are really looking for the next chess move. this, remember, is replacing a conservative justice scalia with, obviously, another conservative. what the conservative groups really hoped for is to get one of the seats of somebody who is going to retire soon, and they wonder when that s anthony kennedy, and they hope by putting neil gorsuch on the court, doesn t make kennedy think, uh-oh, there goads the neighborhood. i better stay. nina, in your view, is this net-net, unchanged, status quo, basically going from scalia gorsuch if confirmed? i m sure there s some issues on which they disagree and would