SOURCE:
New York PostURL:
http://nypost.com/2016/05/18/the-surprising-subtle-messages-in-trumps-scotus-shortlist/BY: Post Editorial Board
______________________________________________________
Donald Trump’s list of potential Supreme Court nominees sends multiple messages — all smart, and some pretty subtle.
The main point, of course, was to reassure Republicans that he really would name a new justice in the mold of Antonin Scalia — someone who’d resist the temptation to read his or her own policy preferences into the Constitution and the law.
And, indeed, every name on the list has a solid record of “judicial restraint” — as well as sterling legal credentials.
But they’re not quite the usual credentials: Where the current high-court members are all graduates of Harvard or Yale Law School, only one such name is on Trump’s list.
OK: The law schools of Georgetown, Chicago and Michigan aren’t blue-collar, either. But it’s still a slap at the Ivy cartel.
And where most Supreme Court short- lists only feature judges already on the federal bench, five of Trump’s picks are state Supreme Court justices. That’s a strong shout-out to voters sick of the idea that the feds have all the answers.
Finally, three picks show real generosity of spirit: Diane Sykes is the ex-wife of talk-radio jock Charles Sykes, who helped Ted Cruz beat Trump in the Wisconsin primary. Allison Eid worked for Education Secretary Bill Bennett — who’s an idol of the neoconservatives at the core of #NeverTrump. And Don Willett has repeatedly tweaked Trump on Twitter.
Some will whine that this list commits him to nothing. They’re wrong: If a President Trump names a wildly different Scalia successor, he’ll face a revolt — just as George W. Bush did when he tried to put longtime friend Harriet Miers on the Supreme Court.
Mark it as another solid step toward uniting the party against Hillary Clinton.
