Backfire?

Almost before Justice Antonin Scalia's body was cold, Mitch McConnell called a pre-emptive press conference to announce that he would block any Obama nomination to the Court.  That seems a risk strategy.

First, while it may be music to the ears of the Obama-haters, it plays right into the hands of those (and they are not just Democrats, but many Trump supporters too) who see the Tea-Party-dominated Republican legislature as belligerent and obstructionist, more interested in grand gestures than getting anything done. It makes him look, particularity to independents, as high-handed, manipulative, and unreasonable. The problem with "just saying No" without heading the case, is that when things need fixing, doing nothing isn't a good answer, no matter how you try to spin it.

And as terrible as an Obama nomination may seem to McConnell, his grandstanding may help the Democrats take the White House, in which case he'll be no better off since he can't kick the can down the road much further once Hilary moves into 1600 Pennsylvania Av.

Worse still it could improve the odds that the Democrats retake the Senate which would be a disaster for Republicans since if Ruth Bader Ginsburg retires,  Democrats had a good shot at getting two seats on the Court and a 6-3 majority.