A few weeks ago, a story surfaced that Biden planned to nominate an anti-abortion lawyer in Kentucky to a federal judgeship. Apparently, he cut a deal with Mitch McConnell to speed up judicial confirmations in exchange for speeding up some of Biden’s judicial appointments.
But apparently the deal fell apart and Biden will not give Chad Meredith a lifetime appointment.
WASHINGTON — The White House is abandoning plans to nominate a Kentucky lawyer who opposes abortion rights and is backed by Senator Mitch McConnell to a federal court seat, citing opposition from Senator Rand Paul, Mr. McConnell’s home-state colleague.
The resistance from Mr. McConnell’s fellow Republican marked a new twist over a potential nomination that had prompted outrage on the left. Democrats were incensed that President Biden’s team had agreed to advance a conservative chosen by Mr. McConnell to fill a district court vacancy as the party is stepping up its focus on countering new abortion restrictions.
The prospective nominee, Chad Meredith, had successfully defended Kentucky’s anti-abortion law as a lawyer for the state. Mr. Biden’s plan to nominate him was made public by The Louisville Courier-Journal just before the Supreme Court overturned the Roe v. Wade precedent that established abortion rights…
The blue slip tradition followed by the Senate Judiciary Committee effectively gives home-state senators veto power over the selection of federal district court judges for their states.
“In considering potential district court nominees, the White House learned that Senator Rand Paul will not return a blue slip on Chad Meredith,” Andrew Bates, a White House spokesman, said Friday in a statement. “Therefore, the White House will not nominate Mr. Meredith.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
How/Why did this nomination progress as far as it did? There was plenty of Early Warning on Mr. Chad Mitchell.
Chad is a Republican forced-birther whose career has included defending abortion restrictions, participating in a pardoning scandal for the outgoing Republican governor, and working to limit the incoming Democratic governor’s executive authority.
He is also a Federalist Society member, just like the six SCOTUS members who killed Roe, unleashed guns, crumbled the wall between church and state, disempowered the EPA, and degraded Native American rights.
The leading voices of the Federalist Society share an ideology that is hostile to civil rights, reproductive rights, religious liberties, environmental protection, privacy rights, and health and safety standards. Their hostility would strip our federal government of the power to enforce these rights and protections. The driving force of the Federalist Society leadership is united behind this extreme ideology.
Indivisible Ventura.Org
My understanding is that Biden and McConnell made a deal. McC gets the odious Chad, and Biden gets approval for many appointments bottled up by McConnell
Would this be a hanging Chad?
Or a Chad hanging?
Or maybe it was a hanging Chad while their was uncertainty about the outcome, but then became a Chad hanging when Chad was ruled out.
Poor Chad.
Maybe he can commiserate with Buffy.
There were also pregnant chads in the 2000 election.
If Chad is pregnant, maybe he can get an abortion. But not in Kentucky. He’ll have to travel out of state for that.
And I bet if Chad is pregnant, Buffy is responsible.
I think Biden’s approval rating is where it is primarily because of Mitch McConnell and the lousy job the traditional media does reporting who is responsible for Congress not getting much done.
The one person most responsible for that obstructionism is Mitch McConnell.
Mitch McConnell is also responsible for the theofascist Handmaid’s Tale majority of justices on the US Supreme Court taking away many hard earned individual freedoms.
How does McConnell manage to stay out of the news when he should be on the front page almost everyday because of the obstructionism that he manages in Congress?
“A new survey from the firm Morning Consult has found that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is once again the least popular senator in the country with just 33 per cent of Kentuckians approving of his job performance.
“Just 18 per cent of Americans approving of Congress as a whole.”
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/mitch-mcconnell-us-senator-popularity-b2065931.html
“McConnell has been getting what he wants: chaos and dysfunction, to be blamed on Democrats and to undermine Biden’s already battered claim to competence and bipartisanship.
“McConnell remains Washington’s obstructionist in chief, unless his own party is in power or — as now — it is in his political interest and his party’s to allow some action.”
https://www.columbian.com/news/2021/oct/17/calmes-mcconnell-relishes-role-as-partisan-obstructionist/
Now, what has Biden accomplished against McConnell’s obstructionism that the news media also mostly ignores?
Promises kept 19
Compromises 3
Promises broken 1
STALLED (probably thanks to McConnell) 23
In the works 44
https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/biden-promise-tracker/?ruling=true
Lloyd: thx for the update. I honestly think that lots of people think that mICKonnell is still Senate Majority Leader., so mealy-mouthed is Chuck Schumer.
I’m honestly wanting to see him replaced with…AMY Schumer. She has a big (physically) head & a BIG mouth & would give the itch, lindsay graham cracker & Lauren BOOBert a good what-for.
I’m waiting for some clever/talented reader out there to draw the cartoon: Amy’s big head, w/words raining out of her mouth upon the aforementioned cowering trio.
Actually, I’m not kidding.
Chuck Schumer’s reputation – tech industry’s facilitator. The money might dry up if a senate leader for the people was installed.
Very good point. I see people making this mistake all the time and sometimes I’m guilty of it myself.
Presidential approval ratings are essentially referenda on how people feel about the economy, with the exception of wartime, when ratings are always through the roof. Inflation is running very high and people are worried.
Read Lloyd’s more accurate analysis above. Presidential approval ratings are essentially a referenda on how the media tells people they should feel because of whether they amplify the negatives or positives.
Biden’s approval tanked during the Afghanistan withdrawal, which had nothing to do with inflation. Ronald Reagan was popular despite inflation.
The strong economy Bill Clinton and Barack Obama left didn’t help the Dems. The horrible economies the Republicans leave don’t really hurt them.
You might believe that George HW’s defeat by Clinton was due to the economy, but it was mainly due to the fact that after the media realized how shamefully they behaved when they turned the popular Dukakis into a laughingstock joke (or pro-rapist murderer) in 3 short months, the media had a reckoning about trashing a Democrat with exaggerated and dishonest propaganda simply because the Republicans wanted them to. And they held off with Bill Clinton. By 2000 the media was back to its old tricks, and both Gore and Kerry were portrayed in a horrifically negative way that they had never been before because that was what the Republicans wanted. I believe only a fear of being called racist prevented the so-called liberal media from trashing Obama the way they had Gore and Kerry. But they returned to their old tricks with “she who cannot be named”.
In 2020, after the wreckage caused by their gleeful complicity in destroying the Dem and electing Trump in 2016, the media once again treated Biden like a Republican and let voters decide instead of mischaracterizing him in the negative way the right wing expected them to. And they stayed that way for about 6 months, until they suddenly turned a decently-managed withdrawal from Afghanistan into “a disaster entirely of Biden’s making”.
No president is without flaws. But Republicans get passes for doing the most horrific things while even the most minor “successes” are amplified as miracles. While with Dems, their successes are ignored and every failing amplified as if it was the entirety of their term.
There is a reason that Americans suddenly care about deficits ONLY when a Democrat president is elected. There is low unemployment so “inflation” is the new issue, and if it wasn’t inflation it would be the deficit or whatever else undermines the Dems. As inflation decreases under Biden, it will not be spoken of again and the focus will be “rising unemployment” or the deficit again.
I think they mainly reflect feelings about the economy.
We can’t blame everything on the media.
You didn’t address any of my points. Biden had a strong economy and his approval ratings went down because of the Afghanistan withdrawal.
But hey, many other people have already pointed out how tiresome your “I think” pronouncements that you never want to defend with any real argument are.
I agree that “you think” what you think and you don’t feel any need to defend what “you think” with stinkin’ argument. You don’t like to discuss issues, merely present what “you think” over and over again.
I don’t even understand why you are here. I enjoy discussing issues with those who have different views, as some folks on here do. Some folks aren’t interested in discussion, just in repeating their talking points that “they think” are true.
Whatever.
Support for Biden reelection bid at record low: poll
From The Hill
Nearly two-thirds of Americans say President Biden should not run for a second presidential term, new polling shows.
A Yahoo News-YouGov poll released Wednesday found that just 18 percent of Americans support a 2024 run for Biden, what the report calls “the lowest number to date.”
More Democratic respondents say they are against a Biden reelection bid than for it, with 41 percent saying the president should bow out.
But 30 percent of Democrats say they aren’t sure who they’d want to run in Biden’s stead.
About a quarter of Democrats surveyed said Biden should be the Democratic nominee in 2024, and less than a fifth said they would prefer Vice President Harris. Twenty percent said “someone else” and 4 percent say they “wouldn’t vote.”
Meanwhile, 60 percent of Republicans think former President Trump should run again in 2024….
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/3557596-support-for-biden-reelection-bid-at-record-low-poll/
My opinion- It’s time to start talking up Gov. Newsome (despite the Kim Guilfoyle baggage) or Mich.’s Gov. Widner, as the candidate.
Kristi Noem is throwing her hat in the ring for the GOP.
Another tantrum.
Look at polling about what issues Americans are most concerned about. Economy. Inflation. It’s not as complicated as you think. And we can’t blame the media whenever things don’t work out how we wish.
Republicans have offered no ideas about how they plan to curb inflation, unless expressing opposition is a plan. Inflation is a worldwide problem, brought on by the Russian war against Ukraine, which has caused massive disruption in the supply of fuel and wheat. How will the Republicans solve a global problem?
It doesn’t matter. The party in power gets punished for economic issues.
Entertain the idea that the appointment was a finesse. Rand was forced to either offend the religious right or the pro-choice contingent in Ky. His support in Ky. reflects a straddling. He’s a libertarian who could lose his bona fides if he supported the taking away of freedoms. Democrats put him between a rock and a hard place.
If the same situation happens in another state, it will suggest a tactical plan. Granted- it’s risky to Biden’s reputation.
Both Rand and the Dems know that Kentucky ranks 37th in % of Catholics. Anti-abortion zealots are Catholic. The aversion to abortion is a relatively new position for evangelicals (Frank Shaeffer). On the whole, Kentuckians are a fiercely independent people. They may value their freedom from government intrusion more than they want to join the Catholic-anti-woman dogma.
Exactly my first thought, Linda. Sounds like a successful chess move.
Paul campaigned for Mo Brooks who had vowed to depose McConnell as Senate leader. Dems force Paul to lose the religious vote. But, offsetting, Paul’s happy to throw a monkey wrench into McConnell’s plans.
For some perspective – this nomination was NOT typical of the myriad of other excellent nominations Biden had made.
“In contrast to the corporate lawyers and prosecutors traditionally favored by presidents of both parties, the Biden White House has focused on putting forward minorities historically underrepresented on the bench as well as public defenders and lawyers with experience in civil rights law.”
Nominating the anti-abortion judge would have a huge error and it is worthy of criticism. But criticism is different than lies.
I have seen posts from some Putin-defending liars to make this into something it isn’t. It isn’t a sign that Biden appoints right wing judges to please donors. But that narrative is being pushed by the very same liars who spent all of 2016 telling us that when the Supreme Court is tied 4-4 with an open seat, do NOT vote for the evil Democrat for president to appoint who fills that open seat because “there is no difference.”
Funny how I never hear them posting comments like “I don’t like Biden but this was a good decision” about the many good progressive policies that Biden has pushed. It’s all quiet until there is something to demonize where they can push their false narrative that Biden only works for donors. But when it comes to Rand Paul, they will post praise for a barely positive action, normalizing a Republican who cares nothing about anything progressive at all.
I guess they just didn’t notice how many Democrats were stepping up and had made it clear that getting Mitch’s pick confirmed was not a done deal because of Dems, not Rand Paul who has voted to approve numerous far right federal judges and far right SC justices.
I doubt the guy who voted to confirm Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett cares one iota about Chad Meredith. Get real. Rand Paul’s opposition is personal. He deserves far less praise than the many Democrats who have spoken out to oppose this, but that won’t stop the Dem-hating pro-Putin Trump-normalizing trolls to push their lies that “there is no difference and Dems work for donors just like Republicans”. And fawn over Rand Paul who voted to confirm all of the Supreme Court nominations that the Republican president they said would be no worse than the Dem appointed. Those on the far right send their thanks.
Meanwhile, Trump and the rest of his traitorous clown car posse continue to get away with treason because Garland:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/3-men-linked-to-russian-spies-were-in-unhinged-dec-18-oval-office-meeting-with-trump-report/ar-AAZEeb5?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=5b413fc1fa624d27b423a2f0c45874be
The Bracken County Ky. Republican Facebook page lashed out on July 16, “Jewish Junta is getting stronger and more aggressive”. The bogus and bizarre charge was in reference to a Biden appointment to the ATF. The GOP claimed that hackers took over the site and made the post. The group didn’t answer the follow-up questions that would have substantiated their claim. We, once again, see the right wing strategy where Republicans portray innocent groups as doing what they themselves maliciously plot (and, achieve). Christian nationalism is escalating. When will there be a response that drills down and targets both sets of the majority conservative religious who are successfully driving a Koch agenda in D.C. and state capitols?
A Ky. state GOP Representative (and, pharmacist) on the House floor said, “Since we’ve brought up the Hebrew family today…Jewish women only have one sex partner…to say that Jewish people approve of this drug now is wrong.” (“Ky. lawmaker apologizes for referencing Jewish women’s sex life amid abortion debate,” 3-2-2022, Louisville Courier Journal”). His statement is further proof that GOP men have been emboldened to control women through discriminatory laws.