President Barack Obama should forgo nominating Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia's successor to avoid the appearance of imbalance, The Washington Post's Bob Woodward said Sunday.
"I think this is a potential minefield for everyone, including Hillary Clinton and the Obama White House," Woodward said Sunday on CNN's
"State of the Union."
Scalia died
Saturday, with just 11 months left Obama's term. Republicans, who control the Senate that must confirm any nominee, have said
they will not confirm anyone nominated by Obama to replace the conservative Scalia.
Democrats want Obama to replace Scalia quickly to swing the court's 5-4 conservative balance to a liberal majority, Woodward pointed out. But if Obama does that in an election year, the GOP nominee could persuade some independent voters that a vote for him will prevent radical changes in a divisive time.
"And in the world now of real voters, I think it is the persuadable voter or the independent who's likely in a positive way to respond to the idea, yeah, let's preserve the balance. Let's not do anything radical," he said.
Though Obama has not been shy about bypassing Congress in his final year of office in an effort to shore up his legacy, he can't appoint a Supreme Court justice by executive order, Woodward said.
"If you're a Republican running and you can say, 'Keep me there, balance is really important,'" he said. "This isn't about the left or the right. This is about the center who's going to decide the election."
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