I never imagined a month ago as I stood near this iconic building tucked behind the US Capitol that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg would no longer be with us.

After all, she’d fought many health issues these past few years with a courage only a few of us could ever imagine and she seemed like she’d outlast them all through sheer force of will and perseverance.

And whether you agreed with her positions on many hot-button social issues of the day or you were implacably opposed them…there was never any doubt in RBG’s service to the law, the Constitution, and our country being of the highest calibre and worthy of the greatest of honours. She was truly an icon on that bench that was respected by everyone who served next to her or faced her incisive and withering questions whilst making oral arguments before the Court.

I’ll admit I’m really not a fan of President Trump or his increasingly chaotic policy positions but I will say that the statement he made prior to boarding Air Force One when he seemed to be surprised by the news of her passing was an example of him reacting to the news as we would hope a President of either party would:

“I didn’t know that. I just — you’re telling me now for the first time. She led an amazing life,” Trump said. “What else can you say? She was an amazing woman, whether you agree or not, she was an amazing woman who led an amazing life. I’m actually sad to hear that. I am sad to hear that.” And then followed that with “today, our nation mourns the loss of a titan of the law”.

Mr President…well spoken and I truly believe that you were very sincere in that statement.

Now Mr President, you’re going to be under enormous pressure to try to nominate and confirm her successor but I would implore you to resist that urge and respect the tradition in this country when a vacancy occurs on the Court to allow the President-elect to make their nomination after the election has taken place.

Unfortunately, this was not done in the case of Justice Antonin Scalia’s passing (who was a lion of the legal profession in his own right) where the Senate sat on President Obama’s lawful nomination of Merrick Garland for 11 months until your election.

Too many potential cases languished in the system unnecessarily because the Court was wary of taking them on with the possibility of a 4-4 split in the vote essentially abdicating the decision in favour of the lower courts which is NOT how our Founding Fathers nor the precedents of the Court intended the Supreme Court to function.

Mr McConnell has already made it clear that he’s perfectly fine with flip-flopping on the so-called Biden Rule when it suits the needs of the Republican Party rather than the needs of the American people.

Now is the time where you can take a decisive stand and trust in the American people’s judgment in November and should you be returned for a second term, nominate whoever you wish. Should that happen, hopefully you will pick a jurist of quality and reason who will put aside partisan concerns for the greater good of defending our Constitution and the rights of ALL Americans, not merely the ones who agree with you.

But should you be defeated, I would hope that the past three years might have made some impression upon you as to the gravity and sanctity of the office that you would wish to protect the rights and privileges of the office and let the duly elected President-elect have their choice when the victor is confirmed.

Please Mr President…you did the right thing when you learnt of her passing on the tarmac in Minnesota.

Let’s keep the momentum going and make the right decision now.

We can call that a winning streak! It has happened before…it can happen again! Even in 2020…