We Need To Play By Senator McConnell’s Rules June 27, 2018 In light of Anthony Kennedy’s announced retirement, it seems to me we should all be saying something like this: Mitch McConnell is the Senate majority leader. Mitch McConnell sets the rules. And here are the rules he set: He said that with Merrick Garland, a moderate consensus candidate, it was not enough to know how the majority voted in 2008 and 2012 . . . the President could not be allowed to exercise his Constitutional right to fill the vacancy. No, he said: with less than a year until the 2016 election, we had to wait to see how they’d vote in 2016. So we did — and millions more voted for the Democrat than the Republican. Not enough to win the presidency, but enough to confirm the nation’s preference. (And still he didn’t give Garland a hearing.) So now – with barely 4 months to November – and by Senator McConnell’s own rules — we have to wait to see how the people feel. Which party gets more votes. If it’s the Republicans, so be it. But if it’s the Democrats, then — even if Senator McConnell retains the gavel — he must work with the Democrats and the President to find a moderate consensus candidate. Perhaps even Merrick Garland.