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It Wasn’t Always This Way

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Charlie Sykes offers a reminder that Supreme Court nominations were not always partisan fights.

“Once upon a time, conservative Antonin Scalia was confirmed by the senate on a 98-0 vote; RBG was confirmed 96-3. The justice that Judge Jackson will replace, Stephen Breyer was confirmed by a margin of 87-9.”

“The first woman on the Court, Sandra Day O’Connor was confirmed by the senate 99-0. The first African-American on the Court, Thurgood Marshall received 69 votes when he was confirmed in 1967.”

The Note: Confirmation hearings test the vanishing middle.

About Political Wire

Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.

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