Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is executing “a very smart strategy” by largely staying out of the many controversies surrounding the future of the Supreme Court following the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg last week, pollster Frank Luntz told “Your World” Monday.
“I think it’s smart for Biden to keep quiet for a day and see how everything shakes out,” Luntz told host Neil Cavuto. “I think the Democrats look awful.”
Turning to President Trump, Luntz said the incumbent can drum up support for his filling the vacancy left by Ginsburg’s death if he “frames” the issue properly.
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“I want to be clear about this because everyone is already angry and blaming the other side for crimes that have not yet been committed,” he said. “Number one, the public believes that the Supreme Court must function in a nonpartisan, nonideological way to do its job.
“Number two, we have the most contentious election coming up in 40 days, and we need a full Supreme Court,” Luntz added. “Number three … the public would have some concern if the president seeks to force somebody through. However, if this is done to give a 5-4 vote, if it is done because eight judges deadlocked at 4-4 is not gonna answer anything in terms of this election, if it’s done for the right reasons, it will help the president. If it’s done for the wrong reasons, it will work against him.”
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Luntz emphasized that “framing, context is everything over these last 40 days, and if the president wants to get the American people behind him, both for Supreme Court choice and for presidential election, he’s got to pay a lot more attention to his language, because he himself is his own worst enemy. He himself is his own worst opponent.”
Later in the segment, Luntz floated a potential “deal” that Senate Democrats are purportedly set to offer Republicans.
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“[The proposal] would offer the Republicans no nuclear option in terms of the filibuster, no change in the filibuster rules for the first two years in return for the Republicans waiting until after January 20th to appoint a justice,” Luntz said.
“That’s a pretty powerful deal. If the Democrats remove the filibuster, it means you’re going to get D.C. statehood, Puerto Rico statehood, it means that you can change the size of the courts,” he explained. “But, if they wait until after the 20th of January, it means that you’re going to potentially lose a Supreme Court nominee, but you won’t change the whole process of the Senate and that won’t allow some of the most extreme legislation to get through.
“It’s an interesting deal, it’s something that the Republicans at least should consider.”
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