Donald Trump set to nominate Amy Coney Barrett to supreme court – live | US news

I wonder how many times I can quote from and link to the op ed former Obama speechwriter David Litt wrote for us this week, about the supreme court, Mitch McConnell, “constitutional hardball” and what the Democrats can do to fight back – after the court switches to a 6-3 conservative majority, which it is going to do.

If hardball must be played, there are plenty of reasons to think that Democrats will ultimately come out on top. In fact, enraged Democrats don’t even have to embrace Donald Trump’s whatever-you-can-get-away with mentality to undo Mitch McConnell’s life’s work. All they have to do is exercise slightly less restraint.

Here’s the piece:

And here’s another quote from David which I find fascinating, on the origins of all this unpleasantness:

In the 1970s, when the modern conservative movement began, an emerging liberal consensus left the right wing feeling it had little to lose by upending our system of government. Democrats, meanwhile, became the party of active government – and were naturally more wary of the possibility that, in an effort to reform institutions, we might erode their legitimacy instead.

That’s heading for Rick Perlstein territory. His theory, which he has expounded through four huge books on the rise of American right, is that it all started with Senator Barry Goldwater, and his quixotic 1964 campaign against Lyndon B Johnson. Here’s an interview with Rick:

On the White House schedule today, in case you wondered about which key blocks of support Donald Trump might be looking to reassure with his supreme court pick:

3:15PM THE PRESIDENT participates in a greeting with Evangelical Faith Leaders
Oval Office

5:00PM THE PRESIDENT announces nominee for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
Rose Garden

Bad form to quote self, and all that, but this is from a Guardian live blog back in June, when Trump had peaceful protesters gassed and attacked so he could waive a Bible about in front of St John’s church:

After Trump’s gas-protesters-to-walk-to-church-and-hold-up-a-Bible stunt on Monday night, there is of course a lot of conversation going on about just how religious this three-times-married, pussy-grabbing, settlement-paying, race-baiting, greed-worshipping president really is.

As for why evangelical Christians support Trump so fervently, here’s John S Gardner’s review of Ralph Reed’s book, For God and Country: The Christian Case for Trump. Safe to say, John isn’t buying:

… and welcome to our coverage of a day in US politics due to end, at 5pm, with Donald Trump’s announcement of Amy Coney Barrett as his choice to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the supreme court.

It’s not definitely Barrett. The choice was reported by numerous outlets last night, though Trump underscored the validity of CNN’s warning – “All sources cautioned that until it is announced by the president, there is always the possibility that Trump makes a last-minute change” – by telling reporters it “could be any one” of five women and insisting: “I haven’t said it is her.”

But he did reportedly say in 2018: “I’m saving her for Ginsburg.”

Barrett is a strict conservative and devout Catholic who by replacing a liberal lion would tilt the court firmly right, 6-3. Which is why Republicans in the Senate are ready to ram the nomination through, even though only 38 days remain until election day.

Public polling suggests a majority think so momentous a choice should be made by the winner of that election, Trump or Joe Biden, the Democratic nominee who still has a relatively healthy lead in the polls. No matter.

We’ll have coverage through the day, of course. In the meantime, for some further reading, here’s our chief reporter, Ed Pilkington, on the role of the Senate in all this: