Democrats are attempting to turn the Supreme Court into a campaign issue as they confront President Donald Trump’s success at reshaping the federal judiciary with young, conservative judges and the prospect that abortion rights are close to being eliminated.
It’s a shift after decades of GOP candidates rallying their voters with promises to reshape the courts in a backlash to Warren Court rulings of the 1960s, and Roe v. Wade in 1973, the landmark abortion rights ruling. That dynamic lasted through the 2016 election, when Trump won over skeptical evangelicals by vowing to pick conservative justices who would allow states to outlaw abortion.
The 2020 Democratic presidential contenders are increasingly bringing up the courts when addressing voters. They’re egged on by activists still furious about Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s refusal to let President Barack Obama fill an open Supreme...