"... Qualifications are critical and must be verified. But speed is also essential. Democrats should take a page from Mr. McConnell’s book and move as quickly as possible. Senators who stoke suspense over how they will vote only create fodder for the news media to focus on divisions among Democrats, rather than on the Republicans who are already laying the groundwork to oppose this historic pick. Although Justice Breyer won’t step down until June or July, Mr. Biden should narrow his list and announce his selection as soon as possible, and Senate Democrats should move quickly to confirm her." -- Stephanie Cutter, former advisor to President Obama and aide to Sens. Harry Reid and Ted Kennedy, writing in the New York Times ($) about the need to expedite filling the Stephen Breyer spot on the SCOTUS before Republicans somehow find a way to make it a Democratic debacle.
There's no reason -- none -- to wait until the end of February to announce a nomination, as President Biden has indicated he wanted to do. The administration has been anticipating a vacancy on the court for at least a year, and have doubtless vetted the candidates named so far, all of whom had already been vetted prior to their current appointments. The more time elapses, the more mischief Republicans and their media enablers will make, and they are already getting their smear machines cranked up.
