He could be the savior the GOP Establishment is looking for.
One of the storylines in the current GOP Presidential campaign is that the party establishment has been looking for its candidate. It was supposed to be Jeb!, he of the $100 million war chest, but he’s cratered. Meanwhile Trump and Carson sucked out the oxygen of the others. Rubio is still in the tryout phase, and apparently the powers that be are not sure if he has the necessary gravitas, or even any at all.
Things are so bad that stories about the Establishment wanting to draft Romney keep popping up. Romney polls well in New Hampshire. But I don’t think he’ll do well in the general election, for the same reasons Romney lost last time.
No, what the GOP needs is a fresh face. Someone articulate. With gravitas. With no baggage. And great conservative credentials. Who is pro business. Who won’t scare the horses.
And what better person could fit all those criteria than Chief Justice John Roberts?
Yes, a few die-hards may be angry that Roberts cast the deciding vote to keep ObamaCare alive, but many will forgive him after he guides the Court to strike down the remaining vestiges of affirmative action (Fisher v. University of Texas), to undermine labor unions by destroying their budgets (Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association), to kill Obama’s immigration policy (United States v. Texas (docket 15-674)), and to impose new restrictions on abortion (Whole Woman’s Health v. Cole). If all that that wasn’t enough, Roberts might even be able to say that as a Justice he had to apply the law on ObamaCare, but as President he’d work to repeal it.
Of course, the Chief would have to step down temporarily from the Court, but after he helped create a new Republican majority, surely Roberts’s GOP successor as President would appoint him to the first available opening.
Good thing that when the Chief Justice said recently that he would not run for President he did not take a Sherman.
Then again, Roberts is pretty smart. He may figure he has more power where he is.
Don’t forget his role in revising the Second Amendment to remove that pesky whereas clause, “A well regulated militia…”
The best positions in DC, in order, are Supreme Court Justice, Senator, and (until quite recently) Speaker of the House. All have the potential of being lifetime positions. Roberts would be foolish to give that up for the mere possibility of being President for awhile. And he is not foolish.