Things have been going well for Republicans and President Trump.  The Supreme Court has issued several favorable rulings, the Mueller investigation continues to go nowhere, and a Supreme Court justice announced his plans to retire, thereby opening the door for another judicial nomination.  While the stars appear to be aligning for the GOP, Republicans must stay focused, attentive, and hungry as the midterms approach.  If Republicans become complacent, they will open a door that is hastily closing on the Democrats.

Complacency is dangerous and can lead to stagnation.  Republicans need to press forward, to keep their eyes on the prize, and to focus on the things that matter most to Americans.  Specifically, they should remind Americans of the country's strong economy, the low unemployment rate (below 4% for first the time since 2000), better foreign relations and policy, a safer nation, solid judicial appointments, and the country's re-emergence as a superpower around the world.

What Republicans should not do is engage in banter with the likes of Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, and Maxine Waters.  They should not participate in staged protests to score political points, encourage their followers to harass those who disagree with them, support an endless and expensive investigation that has failed to produce any evidence of wrongdoing by the president, threaten to impeach the president without proof of an impeachable offense, or threaten to block President Trump's upcoming Supreme Court nomination before he is even named.

Recently, Chuck Schumer made his position clear regarding the upcoming Supreme Court vacancy.

Our Republican colleagues in the Senate should follow the rule they set in 2016: Not to consider a Supreme Court justice in an election year. ... Millions of people are just months away from determining senators who should vote to confirm or reject the President's nominee. And their voices deserve to be heard.

Mr. Schumer's comparison appears to be misplaced.  In 2016, Republicans decided not to consider a potential Supreme Court nominee because of the upcoming presidential election, not the midterm elections.  This distinction is significant.  Also, Mr. Schumer's explicit bias against a potential conservative justice is nothing new.  Specifically, in 2007, Schumer delivered a speech to the American Constitution Society, "a left-wing legal organization."

On July 27, 2007, Schumer told his ACS audience:

How do we apply the lessons we learned from Roberts and Alito to be the next nominee, especially if – God forbid – there is another vacancy under this president? ... [F]or the rest of this president's term and if there is another Republican elected with the same selection criteria let me say this: We should reverse the presumption of confirmation. The Supreme Court is dangerously out of balance. We cannot afford to see Justice Stevens replaced by another Roberts, or Justice Ginsburg by another Alito.  Given the track record of this president and the experience of obfuscation at the hearings – with respect to the Supreme Court, at least – I will recommend to my colleagues that we should not confirm a Supreme Court nominee except in extraordinary circumstances.

This is not the only time that Mr. Schumer and Democrats have threatened to block Republican judicial nominees.  In 2006, Democrats tried to stop Justice Alito from making it to the Supreme Court by way of a Democratic-led filibuster.  There are many other examples.

Considering their repeated efforts to block conservative judicial nominees, calls for Republicans to wait until after the midterms to appoint a new justice are nothing more than a delay tactic.  It doesn't really matter when this appointment takes place, because Mr. Schumer and many Democrats will likely object to any potential nominee – not because he is not qualified, but because he will likely be conservative (i.e., a strict constructionist of the Constitution).

The stars are aligning for Republicans.  They must push forward and remind the American public of the successes obtained by President Trump and the Republican-led Congress to date.  They should not get bogged down in smokescreens and façades, which are clear signs of desperation.

The American voters are tired of the lies. They want transparency, more money in their pockets, a strong economy, available jobs, strong leadership, and safety at home.  Republicans, under President Trump, have delivered these things.  This is the message they should hammer home as the midterms approach.

Mr. Hakim is a writer and a practicing attorney.  His articles have been published in World Net Daily, American Thinker, the Sun-Sentinel, and other online publications.   

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