For decades Republicans succeeded where Democrats have failed, in making court nominations a motivating force at election time — turning out religious conservatives with the promise that Republican candidates would support Supreme Court justices opposed to Roe vs. Wade, the decision that guaranteed a nationwide right to abortion. Now, with Trump poised to tip the Supreme Court's balance decidedly rightward, Democrats' hope lies in shaking their own voters' complacency about that 45-year-old ruling. (Jackie Calmes, Los Angeles Times)