Death of US Supreme Court Justice RBG and US 2020 elections

With 2020 elections just few weeks away, politics in America is getting more complicated. The death of SC justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has exasperated instability in US supreme court (already controlled by GOP inclined judges) and raised the stakes of 2020 elections. The simple fact of 2020 elections is the urgent need to kick madman Trump out of White house. RBGs death has complicated US political situation on two fronts. Firstly, its obvious that Trump regime is now deeply unpopular & hated and likely staring at election defeat. Hence, Trump & his plutocratic backers want to take over Supreme Court to maintain a degree of power after Trump is gone. Secondly, fight over SC judge nomination is also an opportunity for failing Trump to attack & destabilize Biden campaign.

 

In wake of RBG's death, Democrats should adopt a simple strategy - Division of Labor. One faction - Parliamentary Democrats - should prepare for tooth & nail political fight to stop Trump installing a new SC justice. The other faction - the Biden campaign - should adopt a basic ideological stand against Trump's takeover of SC - but should focus strongly on 2020 elections & political campaigning.

 

Basic stand of Biden should be this - Trump is a chaos President. A president who has been impeached by the House. A president implicated in various scandals & crimes. A president whose policies in every area are national disasters. From economy to foreign policy. From pandemic mismanagement to healthcare failures. Everything Trump has done is a disaster. Trump is a President, who is now deeply unpopular & may well be on his way out of White house. Such unpopular, unfit, incompetent & incapable President has no right to fill SC vacancy just few weeks away from general elections. 

Biden campaign should NOT take a HARDLINE position on SC based on Women's Rights, Gender equality, Obamacare, Roe vs Wade etc. All these issues are genuine but Biden should stay away from these controversies AT THIS TIME. Trump's strategy will most likely be dragging Biden campaign away from issue of Economy, healthcare, Pandemic crisis, Unemployment and other more hard hitting fronts where Trump is now deeply hated & unpopular.  Trump has already tried STRATEGY OF TENSION by instigating racial tensions and anarchy in many American cities. In wake of horrific Pandemic deaths & public health crisis, economic shock & massive rise in unemployment, Trump's approval rating collapsed in April-May. Biden lead over Trump expanded well into double digits. This is when Race protests, rioting and arson hit several American cities. This stopped the decline of Trump's ratings though failed to provide any boost to Trump.

Kayfabe is a critical part of Trump's political strategy. Trump likes to run white house like Reality TV to play on raw emotions of people and dupe them by art of showmanship. This is deep rooted cultural phenomenon in US which Trump has exploited with great degree of success.  Trump may well be planning for final season of his Reality TV Presidency - Battle for the Supreme Court. Trump will create a feud with Democrats over control of SC. The duped MAGA base of Trump is demoralized and dejected with fall of economy, huge unemployment & tragedy of pandemic. Trump will be looking to re-energize MAGA voters by giving them another season of Reality TV show. The goal would be reengaging with these MAGA voters and fooling them again to vote for GOP ticket in few weeks time.

The answer to this is simple. Biden campaign should not participate in Trump's reality TV. Parliamentary Democrats should fight & stop Trump's SC nomination in Senate with full force. Biden campaign should maintain its focus on winning elections based on issues of economy, unemployment, pandemic disaster, healthcare & other bread & butter policies. Of course Biden should take a basic stand against Trump's attempt to takeover of SC as i have already stated. But don't get into Women's rights, Roe vs Wade etc etc. In few days, the Presidential debates will be taking place. Trump would LOVE to see Biden waste his energy on Women's rights, Roe vs Wade, Gun rights & other issues connected to US Supreme Court. Biden should not take this bait. Trump wants to run away from issues of economy & Pandemic disaster and Biden should give not give any opportunity to Trump to escape from this. I very much believe that if Biden doesn't give any opportunity to Trump, Trump's Kayfabe strategy will fail as it won't resonate with ground reality. American people have had a rude shock of ground reality with economic collapse and more than 200,000 Covid-19 deaths & most directly because of Trump's chaos Presidency.

 

I can already see a political fight on the horizon regarding SC nomination. Let this fight be fought by Pelosi, Schumer, Nadler, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie etc. Fight to stop Trump's SC nomination will be a political one which will require Parliamentary maneuvers & tactics, opposition research & various legal procedures. I would also advice Democrat politicians to try to engage with sane GOP senators (i hope some do exist) and reach a consensus to delay nomination of SC justice until conclusion of elections.

To all those activists mobilizing to defeat Trump. You should fight against Trump's takeover of SC but focus major part of your energy & time on campaigning against Trump. To all those official members of Democratic party who are working on the ground for 2020 campaign - You should keep your focus on campaigning for Biden. I would advice these Dem party ground workers to send this message up the chain of party leadership. Tell Parliamentary Democrats that you will work to defeat Trump in coming elections with all your power. Parliamentary Democrats who are at forefront in Senate should fight the Trump's takeover of SC with the same determination. These Democrats will have the main responsibility to stop Trump's take over of SC.