Court could become top U.S. election issue

WASHINGTON, June 29 (UPI) -- U.S. Supreme Court observers say recent cases have reinforced perceptions that its future rulings could be determined by this year's presidential election.

Its 5-4 decision last week finding that the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects individual gun ownership rights showed the court is still straddling a tight, left-right ideological divide, The Washington Post reported Sunday. It said court experts predict a victory by likely Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., would probably preserve the status quo, while a win by presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., could decisively tilt the court to the right for years to come.

With several judges in the court's liberal wing seen as the most likely to retire, replacing them with other liberals could maintain the current ideological mix, analysts say.

"The blockbuster cases, the really big cases, have now brought into very sharp focus how closely divided the court is on the really large and philosophically charged issues before the court," Washington attorney Charles Cooper told the Post.

He said the precarious balance will put "the sharpest possible focus on how important the court is going to be ... in the upcoming election debate."