Democrats, Kagan, and the Second Amendment

Today Politico Arena asks:

What are the political implications for Democrats and for the Kagan hearings of today's Supreme Court gun decision?

My response:

The Supreme Court's decision today that the Second Amendment applies against the states cannot be helpful to Democrats in the upcoming elections or to Elena Kagan in her confirmation hearings. Most Court-watchers expected the decision to come out as it did, yet the dissent by the Court's four liberals speaks volumes. How could other rights in the Bill of Rights be good against the states, but not this right? Given the quality of their argument, the conclusion that the Court's liberals are picking and choosing their rights on political grounds is inescapable.

And that issue will arise in the Kagan hearings, given some of her past statements about the Second Amendment. Will it block her confirmation? Probably not, given the numbers. But the discussion should illuminate the issue for the voters, and that's good.