Look at the type of year we’re having, politically. Even if the Mitch McConnell hadn’t thrown down the gauntlet, it would be hard to imagine anyone would want to go through the barrage of media questions and Senate hearings. At best, it would take a toll on one’s sanity.

Once considered a top pick to replace Antonin Scalia, Alberto Jordan has pulled his name from consideration for the Supreme Court. From CNN:

“He pulled himself out of consideration,” Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida told CNN. Nelson said Jordan made the decision because of a “personal, family situation” involving his mother.

“I talked to him … I think that’s unfortunate because he is squeaky clean,” Nelson said, citing Jordan’s long judicial record and his overwhelming confirmation by the Senate in 2012.

Jordan, who would have fit the bill of another Obama appellate nominee who has an engaging personal story, was recently vetted for a federal judgeship and won a large majority in the Senate when confirmed.

Jordan joins Loretta Lynch and others who have said they do not want to be nominated. Jordan claims a family situation forces his call, and that could very well be the case. However, the job of being a SCOTUS nominee is one that an increasing number of people simply do not want. It’s not that they don’t want to be a Supreme Court Justice. It’s that they don’t want to be a nominee right now.

Would you? It’s become a top issue in the 2016 presidential race. It will become a major campaign issue in the general election. If you are the nominee, you will be going through an even bigger circus than normal in order to even get to the hearings, much less get through them intact.

In that instance, sure, we might get a new Supreme Court Justice, but ultimately no one wins.