Why Democrats shouldn't panic about RBG's death

Ginsburg's passing actually creates a trap for the GOP

Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
(Image credit: Illustrated | Getty Images, iStock)

The shockwave of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's sudden and untimely death swept across the American left Friday night, leveling weekend plans and obliterating any hope of a relaxing evening. And of course, her death is a tragedy — the justifiably renowned Ginsburg had clung gamely to her seat throughout the Trump era, despite spiraling health problems, so that a Democrat might fill her seat sometime after he was ousted. But it was not meant to be. Her passing, instead, will inevitably set off an intense and ugly political battle as the November election approaches.

Yet when I read the news, I found myself feeling much more sanguine than many of my friends who were doom-scrolling and panic-texting me. Why am I not apoplectic? Ginsburg's death, while it should and will be mourned, makes nothing worse for Democrats. If anything, it puts Republicans in a serious bind and could create opportunities for structural reform that might have otherwise been unthinkable or unworkable.

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David Faris

David Faris is an associate professor of political science at Roosevelt University and the author of It's Time to Fight Dirty: How Democrats Can Build a Lasting Majority in American Politics. He is a frequent contributor to Informed Comment, and his work has appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times, The Christian Science Monitor, and Indy Week.