ANALYSIS: What President Obama's Supreme Court Nomination Means for the 2016 Race

— -- Just when you thought the 2016 race for the White House couldn’t get any more divisive, the president’s nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court is yet another issue destined to be turned into a political football.

In his speech this morning, President Obama asked Senate Republicans to “play it straight” and “fair” even in a time “when our politics are so polarized.” Almost immediately, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell again stressed the vacancy should not be filled in an election year despite the nomination of Garland, chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

There does seem to be political risk in that calculation. In an ABC News/Washington Post poll last week, Americans by 63 to 32 percent said the president’s nominee should get a hearing.