OPINION | Truman Ran Against Congress, But Biden Should Run Against Supreme Court
Given Trump appointed a third of court, a jab at the justices would be a political "two-fer"
When President Harry Truman was running for election in 1948, he tagged the Republican-led 80th Congress the “Do-Nothing Congress,” and ran against it, as much as — if not more than — his actual opponent in the race, Republican Thomas Dewey.
Then, as now, the race between Truman and Dewey was tight, and uncertain ‘til the end — creating that famous photo of a triumphant Truman holding up the newspaper with the erroneous banner headline, “DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN.”
Today, however, it’s not Congress that President Biden ought to be running against, but instead, the US Supreme Court.
Biden and his team should see this week’s ruling by the high court in favor of expanded presidential immunity as the political gift that it is.
And it’s not just this single disastrous and authoritarian decision.
As Biden, himself, noted the other evening, this highly right-wing court in recent years has attacked a wide range of long-established legal principles of our nation: from gutting voting rights and civil rights, to taking away a woman’s right to choose, to the immunity decision that undermines the nation’s basic rule of law.
And after his alarming performance during his first 2024 face-off against Donald Trump, scaring the American public with the truthful consequences of this unhinged court is probably Biden’s only Hail Mary for reelection at this point.
Although the court’s six right-wing, fascistic justices have given the Biden campaign a target-rich environment that should keep providing material for the remainder of the race, I’d suggest the president’s political team start with the immunity ruling.
Create advertising that splices reporting from the decision giving a potential new President Trump immunity with scenes from the violent January 6, 2021, insurrection as well as Trump’s own recent — and repeated — calls for revenge and retribution.
Make it absolutely crystal clear to those independent, undecided and suburban voters in the battleground states which will decide this election that more of that will be their future if they elect a Trump who now will be shielded from the law by the highest court in the land.
And considering that Trump already has appointed three of the worst justices currently sitting on the court, jabbing at the US Supreme Court will also land on Trump himself.
If that doesn’t keep Trump from returning to the White House, nothing will.
Editor’s Note: Janet Nance is a longtime journalist based in Washington DC who has covered the federal government since the Clinton administration.
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