I don’t think this is huge news, actually. If you’ve been following the debates, this has been the position for a while. What is more interesting is how the candidates are now all willing to declare war on the judiciary to get their way. I think Newt announcing his hostility to the judiciary’s independence in early December really let the right go loose. It’s becoming rapidly apparent that if Republicans gain control, the judiciary will be under grave threat. Even if they can’t pass laws to put term limits on judges, just knowing how hostile the legislature and executive branch are to the judiciary will really weaken its independence.

I think it’s important to contrast this to the Civil Rights era. Even though Eisenhower was not happy with Brown v. Board, he sent out troops to enforce the implementation of it. In 60 years we’ve gone from that to Newt Gingrich saying he’ll subpoena judges who don’t rule the way he likes.