That issue will become clear when Donald Trump announces whether he will announce a candidate before the election. One thing is clear, the question of who will change the balance on the court will certainly energize the left. The question is will the appointment by Trump before the election so energize the left as to permit them to take the focus away from Joe Biden's obvious inadequacies and put it on resisting of Trump's appointment and rendering that into a new crusade.
My tentative view is that the left will react mightily in any case and Trump must do what he has done consistently in his presidency, move forthrightly on behalf of conservatism. If he fails reelection he might nevertheless have secured the court for decades.
It is not to be forgotten that the appointment of a true conservative can also stimulate the Republican base. It might even blunt the opposition of many educated suburban women who have posed a grave threat to the president's reelection if a female is appointed in Ginsburg's place.
In any case Mitch McConnell has promised to shepherd an appointment even before the election or the inauguration of a new President. Let the war begin!
