North Carolina’s US Senate race in 2016 could be one of the most bitterly fought in the country. Democrats hope to defeat Republican incumbent Richard Burr in their battle to retake the upper chamber. But it won’t be easy: the race will be expensive, contentious, and, now that North Carolina is a swing state in a Donald Trump campaign, unpredictable.
Deborah Ross is the woman who’s stepped up to the challenge. We talk about how Trump might impact her race, how she stays sane on one of the country’s rockiest campaign trails, and her judicial beef with Burr:
“… the Constitution says that the Senate gives advice and consent on judicial nominees. It does not say the Senate decides whether it gives advice and consent. Period. If you don’t like the nominee, vote him down.”
To listen, just click play in the box below. You can also listen and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.
Update: In the podcast, Ross mentions “the most recent poll.” Since our conversation, a new poll shows Ross is still within the margin of error.
Richard Burr is so goofy.
In many areas of the law when someone fails to act on a right or obligation or the like, the law treats the situation as if that person gave up that right or obligation. For example, if someone sues you over a trumped-up accusation but you don’t bother to go to court, the law treats your failure to act as an admission to what the other side says. Why not treat the Senate’s failure to vote up or down on a nominee as giving up their right or obligation to consent to that nominee and thereby consider the nominee approved? Call it “pocket consent.”