The Supreme Court.

We all have reasons for wanting President Obama to be re-elected. There are some who express some disappointment with what he did or did not do in his first term. But if President Obama is not re-elected, the make-up of the Supreme Court could become much more conservative over the next 4-8 years.

If Obama is re-elected, he will have 4 years to appoint moderate/liberal judges. Given the current age of 4 of the judges, he may get 1 or 2 appointments. It's possible Ginsburg and Breyer would retire before Obama's term is over, just so he could appoint 2 judges. Scalia and Kennedy would both be in their late 70's, but unless they become ill or incapacitated, they probably would not leave before Obama's 2nd term is over.

A Romney presidency of 4 years could result in replacing 1-2 moderate/liberal justices with 1-2 conservative justices.
A Romney presidency of 8 years could result in replacing 2 conservative justices with 2 conservative justices. Scalia and Kennedy would either leave on their own volition, or be encourage to retire so Romney could appoint 2 younger justices who would be on the court for 25-30 years.

So there is the potential for a 7-2 court with the conservatives in total control. If we thought the Citizens United decision was a travesty, imagine a court with no liberal influence at all. Even if Breyer held on for all 8 years, Romney would still get to replace 3 justices leaving us with a 6-3 court.




The last 8 justices retired or died between the ages of 70-90.

Sandra Day O'Connor retired at 75
David Souter............retired at 70
John Paul Stevens.....retired at 90
William Rehnquist.........died at 81
lewis Powell............. retired at 80
Harry Blackmun.........retired at 86
Warren Burger..........retired at 79
Thurgood Marshall.....retired at 83

I'm not a deep thinker, but I can do the math. I have seen what this court has done, and know what the right wants this court to do. Look at their efforts on voting restrictions, women's access to health care, the ACA, Roe v Wade, ad nauseum. I'm in the last third of my life cycle, so much that they could do would not impact me for too many years, but if I was young I would be very concerned about my future. I'm just saying.