after years of complaining that Obama ignores the Constitution and is acting like a tyrant, blah blah yackety shmackety ad nauseum, republicans have been trying to pretend the President should not -- or must not, depending on who you ask -- nominate a successor to Scalia's seat on the Supreme Court until after the election. in effect, Obama should ignore his duties so that the next president (who will be a democrat) can nominate Scalia's successor.
the way things are looking, if Obama does refuse to nominate someone (which he won't), and Trump or Cruz secures the nomination, expect democrats to hold the presidency AND the Senate next year, making the whole exercise moot anyway. i don't understand why reality is so hard for republicans to accept, but that seems to be the continuous state of the "conservative" party.
"That's the trouble with political jokes in this country... they get elected!" -- Dave Lippman