General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Eleanor Clift: Will Obama Ever 'Fess Up to His Merrick Garland Mess? [View all]radius777
(3,624 posts)though and if Comey doesn't intefere with 11 days to go the point is moot, as Hillary wins easily and Garland gets confirmed in the lame duck session.
IMO Obama also believed Garland would help us with moderates and swing voters.
However unlike some past elections the 2016 election was perhaps the most polarized in recent history, ie that depended on turning out the base, so maybe choosing a more progressive and perhaps nonwhite or female candidate would driven the base to the polls with greater intensity.
But, Hillary did win alot of moderate voters put off by Trump. Many other never-Trump Repub voters simply didn't vote or voted for Johnson. If a very progressive SCOTUS nominee was waiting in the wings it may've given such voters just enough incentive to hold their noses and vote for Trump.
IOW, this argument can easily be argued from both angles.
Again, it comes down to the fact that we had unprecedented interference into a US election that was stolen before our very eyes - that's the bigger issue.