In high-court fight, Democrats pressure Republicans at home

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

Searching for a way to put a new justice on the nation’s highest court, President Barack Obama is hoping that all politics really is local – even Supreme Court politics.

The president and his allies are pressuring Republican senators back home, aiming to make life politically uncomfortable for the lawmakers who’ve vowed that only Obama’s successor will fill the seat of the late Antonin Scalia.

It’s a long shot. Only a few Republicans have expressed openness to even have hearings on a nominee. Obama must first get Republicans to break from leadership on that and then win confirmation support from 14 GOP senators.

The president is still trying to make his case. The White House said Thursday Obama will meet next week with Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, Democratic leader Harry Reid, Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and Patrick Leahy, the committee’s top Democrat. Meanwhile, Obama has talked to at least two senators directly at the White House.

The president spoke briefly Wednesday with Orrin Hatch of Utah, a former Judiciary Committee chairman viewed as potentially sympathetic to concerns about the precedent set by the Republican opposition.

Hatch said Thursday he wasn’t swayed, though “I listened very carefully.”

Obama spoke to Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee about the nomination search Thursday, after an event at the White House, according to a White House official, who would not be named discussing private conversations.

The White House and its allies believe the real work is on the ground in places such as Ohio, Wisconsin and New Hampshire – states where Republican senators face tough re-election campaigns – as well as Nevada, Pennsylvania and Florida, where independent voters often hold sway.