http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/264655-bill-clinton-next-president-could-reshape-supreme-courtJanuary 04, 2016, 12:20 pm
Bill Clinton: Next president could reshape Supreme Court
By Ben Kamisar
Former President Bill Clinton said the next president could nominate as many as three justices to the Supreme Court.
Clinton, making his first solo appearance on the campaign trail for Hillary Clinton's presidential bid, emphasized the importance the next president could have in charting the Supreme Court's path.
"We need to recognize something that has received almost no attention in this election, which is that the next president of the United States will make between one and three appointments to the United States Supreme Court," the former president said in New Hampshire.
"And I know who I want doing that," he added to cheers.
The former secretary of State has regularly brought up the role of the Supreme Court on the stump, specifically promising to appoint judges who disagree with the ruling that allows for unlimited donations to super-PACs. In December, the campaign wrote a blog post that warned a Republican president could use Supreme Court nominations help shape the future of abortion rights, voting rights, marriage equality and campaign finance reform.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, a cancer survivor who continues to brush aside rumors of her retirement, is 79 years old while. Antonin Scalia and Anthony Kennedy are tied for second-oldest justice, at 76; Justice Stephen Breyer is 74. Ginsberg and Breyer have more liberal leanings while Scalia leans conservative. Kennedy is a decisive swing vote on cases that break along ideological lines.
Bill Clinton also aimed to portray his wife as the only candidate able to continue the progress the Obama administration has made.
"A lot of [progress], especially in the environmental and heathcare, will be reversed if you get a Republican congress and a Republican president, and we need to stop that," he added.
