The Difference

Here's the fundamental difference between Republicans and Democrats when it comes to intransigence over filling a Supreme Court vacancy in an election year (and really this applies generally to all political protocols not just judicial nominations): Democrats talk and threaten and bluster about being obstructionist and running roughshod over decades of well-understood and established political norms and customs. But in the end, they never actually do anything. Republicans, on the other hand, usually do carry out their threats.

So it was with the perpetual gamesmanship about increasing the debt ceiling over the past 30 years. Democrats complain and kvetch but ultimately they vote for it. Republicans draw lines in the sand, don't raise the limit, close the government down, and force US credit downgrades.

So it is with Scalia's replacement. The important thing to remember about then Sen. Joe Biden and Chuck Schumer's nomination comments is that that's all they were...comments. They didn't actually ignore an actual nominee (and I would also argue there's an important time difference between June and February of an election year but that may be splitting hairs too fine) Contrast that with Mitch McConnell and Orrin Hatch who are now not just talking about not considering a nominee but actually doing it.

Crazy.