Clarence Thomas Is a Long Shot for President, But His Candidacy Makes a Lot of Sense

Daily Beast ^ | 2/26/11 | Adam Winkler

[BCrago66]

Subtitle:

Call it a longshot if you like, but in this anything-can-happen political year, the Supreme Court justice has qualities to recommend him to a broad spectrum of voters.

[BCrago66]

I agree with the sentiment, with the except of foreign policy. I am doubtful that any candidate - including Mitt Romney - who has not spent years thinking and even better (in the cases of Gingrich & Santorum) making decisions related to foreign policy is qualified to be President. But Justice Thomas would make a great Vice President (where he would pick up training in foreign policy, should he need it.)

[lowbridge]

Then we will lose his lifetime influence on the supreme court. And who would be his replacement? Someone as conservative as him?

[andyk]

What a disaster it would be to pull the voice of reason from the court.

[ScottinVA]

We can`t afford to lose him off the Supreme Court. To run for public office, he`d have to step down as a justice, no? And do we want 0bama making the nomination to replace him, with a timid GOP unwilling to filibuster an inevitable Ruth Bader Ginsburg clone?

No thanks.

[stillonaroll]

He would have to resign his seat this year. The incumbent Rat would nominate his replacement, the Rat Senate would fast-track the nominee, and the Supreme Court would instantly shift to a socialist/degenerate majority.

No. Way.

[DallasSun]

“long shot?”..that is being kind.

[Darren McCarty]

No way. I have a high opinion of Justice Thomas, but he needs to stay on SCOTUS to save our 4-4-1 plurality on the court.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

Thomas is a brilliant jurist. His 100 page concurrent opinion in McDonald v. Chicago, addressing gun liberty in the 14th, not 2nd Amendment, should be required reading for anyone studying constitutional law.

However, he almost certainly does not have the “political impulse”.

From my point of view, the next POTUS should set his mind from the start, to dismantling much of the “imperial presidency” and executive branch.

He should make a deal with a Republican congress to slash and burn decades of federal growth, in such a way that such cuts could not be prevented by the Democrats, who would do everything in their power to stop them.

Not just cutting the rate of growth, but real cuts.

Likewise, he should resolve ahead of time that this will not be popular, so he could very likely only hold one term. But if done immediately on his being sworn in, by the time the midterm elections take place, the benefits should have manifested themselves. So at least the Republican majority in congress would continue.

[BCrago66]

OK, I think it’s fair to say that freepers are less than wholly enthused about this idea. The commenters at Hotair.com feel the same way:

http://hotair.com/headlines/archives/2012/02/26/clarence-thomas-2012/

One thing it might do, however, is get about 100% Republican turnout, due to the threat: Elect Clarence Thomas President, or Obama - not a Republican - will nominate another Sotomayor to replace him. But that pitch won’t work with Independents or cross-over Democrats.

[DJ Frisat]

Why not take Souder or Kennedy from the SC for VP? As the Veep, they couldn’t do any damage, and the (hopefully) conservative president can then nominate a more conservative judge!

[BCrago66]

Souter is gone already, but I think Kennedy is vain enough that he just might accept the offer (and then we must pray for the health of President Gingrich or Santorum.)

[Tex-Con-Man]

Horrible idea.

This article, written by Jeffrey Toobin, is a reluctant admission by the left that not only is Justice Thomas brilliant, he is shaping the direction of the court for years to come. He quotes several lefty law professors.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/08/29/110829fa_fact_toobin

Thomas must stay where he is.

[MindBender26]

Whoever wrote this idiocy article needs 400 mg of Realty, QID

[9YearLurker]

Not happening in a million years.

[MindBender26]

Whoever wrote this idiocy article needs 400 mg of Realty, QID

[DJ Frisat]

Oops. A misspelling and a factual error in the same post! Back to civics class with me...

Thanks for the corrections.

[richardb72]

This is an attempt by a liberal academic to discredit Justice Thomas to make him appear political. Justice Thomas is supposed to be an apolitical judge. This piece in the left wing Daily Beast is just a cynical attempt to make him appear political.

[Pox]

Dumbest.Idea.Ever.

Sure, let's have Obama replace a conservative with a Anti-American liberal loon and you guarantee the demise of this country in the near term.

Fifth column nonsense.

[Republican Wildcat]

And why would we want Obama to be able to appoint his replacement to the Supreme Court and shift it radically to the left?