Folks who want to take their ball and go home have to realize that even three SCOTUS appointments could revolutionize the way elections are handled in this country in a stroke, mandating the submission of redistricting lines to court scrutiny for "fairness."When enforced by courts, "sophisticates" may go on indefinitely with a great many things.
"It is undeniable that political sophisticates understand such fairness and how to go about destroying it," Justice Souter announced in his diseent in Veith v. Jubilerer, the Pennsylvania redistricting case in which the Court declined by a vote of 5 to 4 to immerse itself in the details of the partisan redistricting of Pennsylvania.
If Democrats control the White House and gain even one of the five seats held by the center-right majority of current justices, this and many other crucial issues are up for legal grabs. When activist judges are more than willing to rewrite rules of long-standing, periods of exile should never be self-imposed "for the good of the party." Exiles can go on a very long time indeed. Ask the Whigs.
They can go on indefinitely when enforced by courts.
I like Hewitt's happy warrior understanding of politics, though:
I don't expect the principals to let up on each other in the two months ahead, and I am especially looking forward to the Ohio and Texas votes.Someone's talking sense.
But it is very possible to play full contact politics without the threat of going home if your team loses. The stakes in the fall are far too high for that.
