Supreme Court pick could affect McCain's re-election bid

• Sen. John McCain's opposition to any Supreme Court nominee this year has drawn fire from Democrats
• McCain previously voted in 1997 to confirm Merrick Garland for an appeals court judge position
• Sen. Jeff Flake, a Senate Judiciary Committee member, said he would be willing to meet with Garland

Sen. John McCain's refusal to consider President Barack Obama's replacement for the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia became an issue in his re-election bid even before Wednesday's nomination of Merrick Garland.

Following Scalia's death, McCain, R-Ariz., quickly closed ranks with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and other Senate Republicans in saying the next president should make the pick. He has drawn fire from U.S. Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, the expected Democratic Senate nominee, and national Democrats.

In nominating Garland, Obama cautioned against making the Supreme Court confirmation process "simply an extension of our divided politics, the squabbling that’s going on in the news every day.  But to go down that path would be wrong. It would be a betrayal of our best traditions, and a betrayal of the vision of our founding documents."

But McCain has doubled-down on his position that voters should decide who will pick the next justice, even though on March 19, 1997, he voted to confirm Garland as a judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. At the time, McCain broke with then-Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., who voted against confirming Garland.

“This issue is not about any single nominee – it’s about the integrity of the Court," McCain said Wednesday in a written statement. "With less than a year left in a lame-duck presidency and the long-term ideological balance of the Supreme Court at stake, I believe the American people must have a voice in the direction of the Supreme Court by electing a new president.

"The last time the American people spoke, they elected a Republican majority to the Senate to act as a ‘check and balance’ on President Obama’s liberal agenda – a responsibility I cannot ignore," he added.

One partisan poll commissioned by the pro-Obama, labor-union-backed national organization Americans United for Change suggests that McCain's stand has already put himself at odds with Arizona voters.

The automated telephone poll of 533 Arizona voters, conducted March 1-2 by the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling of Raleigh, N.C., indicated that 56 percent want the Supreme Court vacancy filled this year, compared  with 41 percent  who want it left empty and 3 percent who weren't sure.

As to McCain's position, 55 percent said it made them less likely to vote for his re-election this year; 21 percent said it made them more likely to vote for him; and 24 percent said it wouldn't make any difference.

The poll, which had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.2 percentage points, earlier this month was dismissed as "fake" by McCain's campaign.

McCain, who this year is seeking a sixth six-year Senate term, took another round of criticism from Democrats on Wednesday.

"Today, John McCain reminded Arizonans once again just how much he has changed during his 33 years in Washington," Kirkpatrick said in a written statement to The Arizona Republic. "Let's not forget that McCain crossed party lines to vote in favor of Judge Garland's Senate confirmation once before. Now, in an attempt to save his political career, he chose his political party's agenda over his constitutional duty as United States senator."

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which has endorsed Kirkpatrick in the race, used a Twitter message from former Arizona Attorney General Grant Woods to hit McCain.

Woods, a longtime McCain friend and ally who in the 1980s served as McCain's congressional chief of staff, tweeted: "#MerrickGarland is an excellent choice for #SCOTUSnominee. The Senate should do its job and confirm him."

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“It is shameful that John McCain is playing games with something as important as a Supreme Court nominee, and come November, Arizona will elect a leader who will put her responsibilities ahead of any political party," said Lauren Passalacqua, the  committee's national press secretary.

However, Jennifer Duffy, a national political analyst, predicted the Supreme Court nomination fight will play to both parties' bases but doubted the issue ultimately would make much of a difference in the Arizona race.

McCain, who in the past has been censured as too liberal by Arizona GOP activists, already is facing several Republican primary challengers, Duffy said, "and, remember, the filing deadline isn't closed yet." Breaking away from the other Republicans would risk further insurrection, she said.

Upon Scalia's Feb. 13 death, the Senate Republicans quickly announced that they would not consider any nominees because they knew that Obama could offer one who in some way could put them on the political spot.

"That's why they adopted the strategy they did," said Duffy, who analyzes Senate races for the nonpartisan, Washington, D.C.-based Cook Political Report. "They didn't want in front of them someone who they had voted for before, or a minority, or a woman, because they felt in the end that gave the opposition more fodder."

Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., also is siding with his fellow Senate Republicans in saying no on any nominees, although on Wednesday he told The Republic he would be willing to meet with Garland as a courtesy.

As a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Flake would have an influential role in vetting Supreme Court nominees.

Flake said the Democratic attack on Republicans is complicated by the fact Democrats have taken similar positions on nominees in the past. In 1992, then-Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Joe Biden, who is now Obama's vice president, urged President George H.W. Bush to refrain from filling any Supreme Court vacancies that might come up in that election year.

If Bush pressed forward with a nominee, Biden said in remarks on the Senate floor, the Judiciary Committee should seriously consider not scheduling confirmation hearings until after the political campaign season. This year, Biden has clarified that he was not advocating obstructionism.

"It's very difficult for the Democrats, given what their leadership has said in the past, to make an issue of this," Flake said. "I think McCain will be just fine."

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