Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is going to be central to the court succession from here on out, much more so than the President

So How’s This Supreme Court Nomination Going To Play Out?

And what’s it going to mean for the Presidential election?

The most likely path we see is for Trump to nominate someone before Election Day to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died Friday, but the Senate not to vote on that nomination until after. That is, during the session that will take place between Election Day in November and Inauguration Day in January. That way people will be asked to vote not just for Trump, but also for his Supreme Court nominee.

That course of action is not without significant political risk for Republicans. But also for Democrats. And probably more for Democrats.

Why? Because it gives Republicans more of a reason to appeal to people out there to vote for President Trump. Since they’ll now be asked to vote for his Supreme Court nominee at the same time. Which folds very well into one of the central Republican messages of late: vote for Trump in spite of who he is, not because of who he is. Now, wavering voters might actually be presented with a real reason to do that.

Let’s say Trump nominates someone as soon this week, which he probably will. And instead of holding off a while, Republicans in the Senate slam through a hearing almost immediately, and muster the votes to clear that candidate before…