This [2] is a BIG problem.
The U.S. Court of Appeals [3] for the 4th Circuit, long considered one of the nation's most conservative appellate courts, is shifting to a moderate direction with the balance up for grabs. A growing list of vacancies -- now five -- has left the court evenly divided between Republican and Democratic appointees.
With an election year approaching, experts predict the court will tilt decisively to the left if Democrats keep control of Congress and reclaim the White House [4].
If the folks in the leadership are smart (always up for debate) they'll try and get our train back on track by making a bigger PR issue of judicial confirmations. This was one on the primary issues that helped us win the White House back from the Dems in 2000, and it still has tremendous power. Add to that the importance of keeping control in the 4th Circuit, and the way forward should be pretty obvious, (but again, things that should be so don't always seem that way w/the leadership). We'll see.
