Are there any advantages to having a 4-4 Supreme Court?
On the controversial cases, there can be no definitive decisions that become the final word of the Supreme Court. If their vote is 4-4, then the decision would revert back to the court from which it came. It would not be definitive, but it would be the law of the land, until the Supreme Court took it up again.
Of course, the President is not going to be able to get a liberal thru the nomination process at this time. The best he can hope for is probably a moderate Republican?
However, if the Republicans carry thru with their threat to not even talk to any nominees until after the election, the seat on the Court remains vacant.
Unfortunately for the Republicans, they have over twenty Senate seats up for re-election in November. At the present time, they have 54 seats. With the loss of only 4 seats and the loss of the presidential election, the Democrats will be in much better position to appoint a more liberal judge to the court, if they so desired.
Some may argue that the Republicans are taking a huge gamble, and playing into the hands of the Democrats, by betting the Court that they can come up with a winner in the presidential election. But, if they lose, they could come out in much worse shape than if they tried to compromise with the President and try to get a moderate on the Court while given the chance?
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