In this Jan. 4,(AP Photo/Susan Walsh) 2017 file photo, Vice President Joe Biden, left, watches President Barack Obama, center, at Conmy Hall, Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, Va.
After a deluge of horrible headlines, ranging from his reported disrespect for troops to intentionally downplaying the severity of the pandemic, President Donald Trump on Wednesday attempted to change the conversation with a simple, though entirely hypothetical, announcement: future potential Supreme Court nominations.
Let's be clear — there's no actual SCOTUS vacancy at this time, but this gives the incumbent another tool in the make-'em-go-wild applause lines for his not-so-socially-distant campaign rallies. And included in the list were a few real newsmakers: Republican Senators Tom Cotton, Ted Cruz, and Josh Hawley. Within moments of the announcement, Cotton even tweeted out, "It's time for Roe v. Wade to go."
This strategy proves the media manipulation that, in part, helped propel Trump to the presidency in the first place: the ability to uniquely control — and change — the conversation on his own terms. It's a game that the campaign for Democratic nominee Joe Biden will have to contend with for the next 54 days until the election.
And Biden has a simple way to steal back the thunder on this silly story and reframe it in a way that would drive conservatives up the wall: announce a similarly-hypothetical SCOTUS nomination for none other than former President Barack H. Obama.
Just imagine the breathless outrage on Sean Hannity's opening monologue, or how the Trump Rapid Response team would scramble to respond to the unexpected "announcement" from Biden. But what, exactly, would Biden have to lose? He wouldn't actually be committing to anything, and in the process, he could steal a week's worth of cable news panels, chyrons, and pundit hot takes debating whether or not Obama might actually join William Howard Taft as the only other POTUS-SCOTUS hybrid in U.S. history.
And the arguments write themselves: at only 59-years-old, Obama on the Supreme Court could help ensure liberal longevity, and would put him even younger than Merrick Garland was in 2016. Obama was the first Black president of the Harvard Law Review and graduated magna cum laude; he could also help uphold any of the signature policies that Obama-Biden fought for through eight years in office. And a recent Morning Consult/Politico poll found that the Obamas remain the most popular figures in the Democratic Party.
The issue has come up before: on the campaign trail, Biden was asked in Iowa if he would ever consider nominating his former boss to the high court; he responded, "If he'd take it, yes."
But aside from the merits of the choice itself, the short-term strategy to such a move would be clear: play the media like a fiddle the way Trump does. Stealing back the spotlight with non-announcement-announcements would show that the Biden campaign is willing to fight and aggressively frame headlines on its terms. Donald Trump's undeniable showmanship makes him an unrivaled force in national politics, and Joe Biden can't miss his windows to show a bit of media pizzazz himself to compete against the headline-creating incumbent.
Not to mention, it would be a good opportunity to restate the obvious: a Biden White House would fight for the preservation of Roe v. Wade.
The opinions expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the ideas and opinions of Cheddar and Altice USA.
Going into election day on Tuesday, many of us had an inkling it might not be a great day for Democrats. History tells us the president's party tends to lose congressional seats, governorships and state legislature seats in off-year and midterm elections. Tuesday turned out to be a big wake-up call for democrats. Not only did Terry McAuliffe lose in the Virginia governor's race, Gov. Phil Murphy won re-election by an incredibly slim margin. Both races saw continued Democratic losses in rural areas and a shift of suburban voters back to the GOP. Liz Landers, chief political correspondent at Vice News, joins Cheddar Politics to discuss.
Week one of UN climate summit is coming to an end, world leaders made a number of promises to save the planet. President Biden attended the first two days of the meeting.
Alan Neuhauser, vice president of Silverline Communications, joined Cheddar Politics to talk more about the pledges that came out from the summit and their significance.
It's been a busy week for the Supreme Court. It heard arguments on three of the most watched cases in the docket for this term. The court heard arguments in two cases challenging the Texas abortion law on Monday - one filed by abortion providers and the other by the justice department. Instead of weighing in on the constitutionality of the matter itself, justices focused on the unusual structure of the law that enables citizens to enforce the law, not the state government.
On Wednesday, the court heard arguments in the biggest Second Amendment case in more than a decade. The dispute is over a New York gun law that requires people seeking a license to carry a handgun in public to show a "proper cause." The challengers in this case claim the law inhibits their constitutional Second Amendment rights.
Amy Howe, co-founder of SCOTUSBlog, joined Cheddar Politics to break the cases down.
This is the first installment of Cheddar Changemakers, where we spotlight young activists making a difference in the world and speaking up on issues regarding mental health, voting, and climate change.
Republicans are considered, and often act like, the party opposed to action on climate change. They've made a point of fighting even modest regulations on businesses related to stemming the worst effects of climate change. But Republicans aren't a monolith on climate change, and our next guest reminds us that "conservation" and "conservative" have the same word root.
Quill Robinson, VP of government affairs at the American Conservation Coalition, joins Cheddar Politics to discuss.
The mayor of Portland, Oregon, Ted Wheeler joined Cheddar News Wrap to discuss his plans to get an increase in the city's police budget for more personnel, changes to public safety response, and more body cameras. The Democratic mayor addressed the growth in violent crimes amid the pandemic, but noted the need for officers who take their roles seriously. We want officers who understand that policing is an important responsibility, it's a high calling," he said. "We also want a police bureau that is accountable and responsible to the public it serves."
More American tech companies continue to pull their businesses out of China as the Communist Party cracks down on firms — both foreign and domestic. Yahoo and Fortnite have become the latest companies to withdraw from the country, and the withdrawals come just days after Microsoft announced it would take LinkedIn offline. Shehzad Qazi, managing director at China Beige Book International, joined Cheddar to provide some insight into how the crackdowns in China would also impact the tech companies at home in the United States.
A new report out by the Center for Countering Digital Hate shows how just ten publishers are responsible for the bulk of climate change misinformation on social media--and companies like Facebook and Google are making money off them. Imran Ahmed, CEO of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, joined Cheddar to discuss.
'The Good Liars' are Jason Selvig and Davram Stiefler, a comedy duo that's been shaking up the political world for years. They're out with a new mockumentary, 'The Supporters,' following the 2020 election. Jason Selvig & Davram Stiefler, Stunt Comedians and creators of 'The Good Liars' joined Cheddar News to discuss.
