Democrats are having a rough go of it lately.

As my colleague Susie Moore reported earlier on Wednesday, inflation hit 8.3 percent in April. Meanwhile, over in Europe, Russia is still waging a war in Ukraine despite early proclamations that sanctions would crush Putin’s regime. Then there’s the border, which we don’t even talk about anymore, but which is an abject humanitarian and security disaster. To add insult to injury, the country is now suffering from a shortage of baby formula and diesel fuel. It’s enough to make people long for the days of Jimmy Carter.

All the while, it is Democrats who hold both chambers of Congress and the White House, and the hits just keep on coming with the news of Roe v. Wade likely being overturned by the Supreme Court. Is this the worst year in modern history for the Democrat Party? I can’t say for sure, but it’s got to be up there.

That’s leading to some next-level desperation, with Democrats desperately looking for a way out, and they think they’ve found a possible savior: Chief Justice John Roberts.

Chief Justice John Roberts could persuade another Supreme Court conservative to back down from overturning Roe v. Wade, legal experts say https://t.co/cXiXzxcMzf

— Politics Insider (@PoliticsInsider) May 11, 2022

There’s cope and then there’s maximum cope. We are witnessing the latter, and it’s a joy to behold as pro-abortion radicals flail about, hoping for some deus ex machina to save them.

Let’s start with the idea that “legal experts” have any special insight here. Is it technically possible that Roberts could persuade someone to flip their vote? Sure, and it’s also possible that the Supreme Court overturns Obergefell. Something being possible doesn’t mean it’s realistic. In this case, there are several reasons to suspect that Roberts will have no success getting one of the five Justices ready to overturn Roe to change sides.

To start, as RedState reported this morning, Justice Samuel Alito’s leaked majority decision is still the only existing draft that has been circulated, and that draft has been out since February. If Roberts thought he could change someone’s mind, wouldn’t he have written an alternative majority decision that retains Roe to lobby with by now? That he hasn’t done so is telling. Either he’s got no sense of urgency, or he knows it’s a doomed effort.

Next, you have to consider that Roberts’ reported desire to keep Roe but to get rid of the viability standard, thereby upholding Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban, makes no legal sense. The entire enforcement of Roe/Casey revolves around that viability standard, and while I’m sure Roberts would love to appease the left by not technically overturning Roe, I can’t see the conservative justices signing onto something so faulty. Remember, one of the main arguments for overturning Roe has nothing to do with abortion, but rather, the fact that it’s just a horribly written, horribly reasoned decision. Replacing one bad, nonsensical decision with another isn’t going to fly.

Lastly, there’s the credibility of the court to consider. If a justice, in the face of this full-court press of an intimidation campaign by the left, changes their vote, it will be the end of the Supreme Court as a legitimate institution. Roberts, as flawed as he is, has always made the legitimacy of the court his top issue. Even he has to be wary of the court appearing blatantly political by responding to left-wing political pressures.

With all that said, I do not see Roberts being successful in getting any of the five conservatives to change their votes. I’m not even sure he’s trying at this point. Instead, these media headlines suggesting such seem like wishful thinking at best.