President-elect Donald Trump has released a list of 21 potential nominees to the Supreme Court -- the people he choose to replace Justice Antonin Scalia and other potential vacant seats -- are a direct result of conservative casting.
The conservative casting comes from the fact that Trump has said that two deeply conservative organizations -- the Heritage Foundation think tank, and the Federalist Society legal organization, helped him compile his list for the vacant seat. This makes sense because they have been stronger supporters of his campaign during the time of the election, so he will need their support in order to effectively accomplish his list of items on his political agenda. Besides vowing to replace Scalia with an ideological twin, Trump has said that his pick will seek to overturn Roe vs. Wade and be a strong supporter of the Second Amendment.
If he chooses someone too far to the right, he risks more national and political conflict, Thus, it will endanger the effectiveness of his new presidency. Nominate a centrist, however, and Trump risks a backlash from the conservative organizations poised to play a significant role in his success -- or failure -- as the new president.
Lastly, the Democrats have said that they will filibuster Trump's nomination if they consider that person incompetent or too far right.
So a few questions particularly come to mind....
1) Who and how will Trump choose to fill the vacant seat in the Supreme court?
2) How will Trump find a candidate that both his conservative supporters and opposing Democrats find acceptable?
3) Will Trump actually pick someone from his list that he released? Or will he completely deviate from it due to his flip-floppy nature?
4) Trump has publicly stated that he really likes Scalia and vows to appoint someone in the "Mold of Scalia." Will he keep his promise? Furthermore, in knowing this, is it possible to narrow it down to a few judges from the list of 21?