The Sandoval Stunt

The governor did that in 2012, when he said that Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney's plan to encourage millions of undocumented immigrants to "self-deport" was loco. This is how they play the game out West, which benefits tremendously from being so far from Washington and its hyper-partisan climate.

Nominating Sandoval would be a brilliant choice for Obama, and it would make sense on a lot of levels. Yet it will never happen. Why? Because late last week, Sandoval put out a statement indicating that he was not interested. While saying that he was "incredibly grateful to have been mentioned," the governor took himself out of the running.

It's just as well. I think this whole story was a mirage, a carnival game and a cynical stunt intended to reveal Senate Republicans for what they are on the subject of confirming a high court nominee: petty, irrational and guided by politics.

It's telling that, according to Sandoval's office, no one from the White House had even called to discuss the vacancy. The governor was being played with, and we were being hustled.

Obama and his advisers must have known that -- Sandoval or no Sandoval -- Republicans would hold fast to their threat not to call for hearings on any nominee until after the presidential election. Right on cue, Senate Republicans did just that, taking to conservative talk radio and other media to reassure their flock that, their respect for Sandoval notwithstanding, nothing had changed.

Oh, but it has. A trap was set, and then sprung. Obama won the round. And the country lost out on someone who would have been a great candidate for the Supreme Court.

If we needed more evidence that Washington is broken, and that the dysfunction now extends to all three branches of government, there it is.

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Ruben Navarrette's email address is ruben@rubennavarrette.com.