Election waters muddied by death

TOP JUDGE: ‘LIFE OR DEATH’ DECISION FOR TRUMP

Announcement about replacement for Supreme Court justice expected soon.

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death has roiled the United States presidential race, with the battle over her replacement looming large in swing states likely to determine the course of an election just six weeks away.

Many Republicans see her passing as a golden, if controversial, opportunity for President Donald Trump to pick another conservative – his third – for a lifelong spot on the nine-member bench. Michelle Burns, a stay-athome mother of six in the city of Monroe, in southern Michigan, said “it’s God’s will” that Trump fill the court vacancy before the vote.

“My own belief is that this was a divine intervention,” the 46-yearold said outside her home that features over-the-top Halloween decorations, complete with an inflatable Trump.

“What’s the coincidence of it happening seven weeks before the election?”

Trump’s battle with Democrat Joe Biden is on a razor’s edge, with the Ginsburg replacement the latest in a series of bitterly divisive election issues: Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, the resulting economic downturn, and tensions over racial injustice.

Whether the explosive Ginsburg issue fundamentally alters the race is not yet known.

But grassroots Democrats hope Trump nominating a replacement would be met with a backlash that tilts the presidential contest their way in critical Industrial Belt states like Michigan and Ohio.

“It’s really life or death at this point,” said 21-year-old college student Alexa Cooley, as she and her sister left a Democratic Party office in Monroe with campaign yard signs under their arms.

While she acknowledges the court seat battle is a rallying point for pro-life voters like Burns, Cooley sees a five-alarm fire that will “motivate Democrats” to vote for Biden on 3 November.

Trump has announced he will nominate a new justice soon and the Senate’s Republican leader said to expect a confirmation vote. – AFP