Merrick Garland is an oppo researcher’s nightmare.
Those who oppose President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee have been digging for dirt to justify opposition by 52 of the 54 Senate Republicans to granting him a hearing. But about the worst thing anybody has come up with: an allegation that Garland crossed lanes in a relay race. In summer camp. Fifty years ago.
“I began to chase Merrick down, narrowing the lead to about five yards with about 70 yards to go,” Fred Eisenhammer, who went to day camp with Garland, wrote recently in the Chicago Tribune. “Merrick cut to the left in front of me before veering back on course. I staggered to avoid crashing into him” and never caught up. The accuser acknowledged that the “adult leader” did not disqualify Garland’s relay team. But still: “Did Merrick Garland get away with something during that relay race?” Eisenhammer asked. “Was it intentional?”
It may be time to empanel a select committee.
The relay race scandal — a sign that Garland opponents are coming up empty — helps to vindicate Obama’s choice: With Republicans refusing even to consider a nominee, the president chose somebody so anodyne, so beyond reproach, that those who won’t grant him a hearing look peevish and petty. I’m not convinced it’s the best strategy (Garland is too moderate to inspire Democratic voters, and Republicans won’t confirm him anyway), but Democrats believe the unobjectionable nominee will make Republicans vulnerable to the criticism that they aren’t doing their jobs.
At the very least, Garland is making them squirm. Endangered Mark Kirk of Illinois joins Susan Collins, a Maine moderate, as the only two GOP senators calling for hearings. Two other Republican senators up for re-election — Jerry Moran of Kansas and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — said that Garland should get a hearing, before conservative pressure coerced them to recant.