David Cole, national legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union, is legal-affairs correspondent for The Nation. He is the author, most recently, of Engines of Liberty: How Citizen Movements Succeed.
The real battle for the future of the Supreme Court is not his nomination but the presidential election—the winner will determine the shape of constitutional law for generations.
Too many politicians choose to play to the lowest common denominator, pushing measures that make them sound tough but respond to no identifiable problem.