TED CRUZ: ‘Make the 2016 election a referendum on the Supreme Court.’

GOP presidential candidate Ted Cruz said in an interview broadcast early Sunday that the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia underscores the stakes in the 2016 race.

“We are facing our fundamental rights in the balance,” the Texas senator said on NBC’s “Meet the Press,“ citing “abortion on demand,” “religious liberty” and the Second Amendment.

When asked if the Senate has an obligation to at least consider a nomination that President Obama puts forward, Cruz responded, “Not remotely.”

“It has been 80 years since a Supreme Court vacancy was nominated and confirmed in an election year,” Cruz said. “There is a long tradition that you don’t do this in an election year. And what this means, Chuck, is we ought to make the 2016 election a referendum on the Supreme Court.”

“The Senate’s duty is to advise and consent,” he added. “You know what? The Senate is advising right now. We’re advising that a lame-duck president in an election year is not going to be able to tip the balance of the Supreme Court, that we’re going to have an election.”

He’s on solid constitutional ground. But although everybody thinks the Supreme Court will be the big issue of 2016, my gut says it’ll be something else, probably an issue triggered by some disaster at home or abroad this summer.