Updated 8:05 p.m.
Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton visited Madison Monday to discuss the importance of factoring in the Supreme Court nomination crisis into voters’ decisions for the next president of the United States.
At Gordon’s Dining and Event Center on campus, Clinton talked to a room filled with invited guests about the problem President Barack Obama currently faces after his nomination of U.S. District Judge Merrick Garland to the U.S. Supreme Court several weeks ago.
.@HillaryClinton addresses current judicial and court system pic.twitter.com/xJJZORdQp1
— The Daily Cardinal (@dailycardinal) March 28, 2016
“The death of Justice Scalia marked the end of an era,” Clinton said. “Now as you know, there’s a fight over whether President Obama should nominate a replacement, as the constitution requires.”
She began her speech with insisting that the Supreme Court “matters a great deal to our future, your future and the future of our country.” Clinton told the audience that the next president of the United States will have influence over the Supreme Court’s future decisions for the next several decades if he or she nominates another justice. She noted that several of the current justices are over the age of 80, which is past the average age of retirement for justices.
She criticized Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, head of the Senate Judiciary Committee, who has argued that allowing the next elected president to nominate the next Supreme Court justice would let citizens have a say in the process via their vote for president.
Clinton argued against that idea, saying that the voices of those who elected Obama as president are being ignored.
“Well, as one of the more than 65 million Americans who voted to elect Barack Obama, I’d say my voice is being ignored,” Clinton said. “We chose a president. We chose him twice. And now Republicans in the Senate are acting like our votes didn’t matter.”
Before opening the floor to a question-and-answer portion that included topics such as climate change, disability wages, affordable housing and public education, Clinton urged the audience to contact local Republican Sen. Ron Johnson. Clinton said they need to contact Johnson to tell him to stop playing games and to do his job by holding hearings to seriously consider Obama’s nomination.
“It’s our constitution, it’s our court, and it’s our future,” Clinton said.
Although the speech was open only to invited guests, two students in attendance thought Clinton did well.
“I thought she was amazing and extremely inspiring,” said UW-Madison freshman Sarah Roemer.
“She’s really personable and a really good speaker,” said another UW-Madison freshman Hannah Monroe.
Students protesting @HillaryClinton event in the first floor of Gordon Dining & Event Center pic.twitter.com/HAKxEMzIeB
— The Daily Cardinal (@dailycardinal) March 28, 2016
The fact that her speech was not open to the public did not surprise UW-Madison political science professor Barry Burden.
“It suggests that she wants to have more control on what goes on,” Burden, an expert on American politics, said of the closed event.
As for the overall Democratic climate campus-wide and across the state, Burden said that although Madison is a Democratic stronghold, the Wisconsin primary could swing either way for Clinton.
Clinton will continue to campaign Tuesday in Milwaukee, La Crosse and Green Bay ahead of Wisconsin's April 5 primary.
@HillaryClinton has arrived pic.twitter.com/uIjsmIZDLL
— Cardinal Politics (@CardPolitics) March 28, 2016
