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Hey, good morning, playbookers on Rangoumanabol. It's Wednesday. The big news today,

Republicans can't seem to agree on a SCOTIS strategy. This is your Politico Playbook Daily briefing.

Republicans have been all over the map lately in their Supreme Court messaging.

Senator Roger Wicker called President Joe Biden's vow to only consider Black women for the vacancy,

quote, affirmative action.

Senator Susan Collins said Biden doing so during the campaign was, quote, clumsy and

risked further politicizing perceptions of the High Court.

And Senator Lindsey Graham welcomed Biden's bid to diversify the Supreme Court,

saying, quote, it's about time it looked more like America. So, what gives? According to more

than a half dozen GOP officials on and off Capitol Hill, the discordant notes stem from a behind-the-scenes

Republican Party tussle over strategy for the upcoming nomination.

Some are worried that going to hearted Biden's pick, and especially using language like affirmative action,

will distract from pocketbook issues and potentially backfire.

But others think Republicans would be missing a key opportunity if they hold back,

pointing to a recent ABC poll showing that three-quarters of voters want Biden to look at, quote, all possible nominees, while only 23% wanted him to consider only black women. During Senate

Republicans' private lunch Tuesday, Jupy leaders encouraged members to keep focusing on the

pocketbook problems plaguing Democrats. Minority whip John Thune, so that waging a high-profile

battle against a scotist nominee, they don't have the votes to block, could be counterproductive to their

messaging and also set unreasonable expectations for the base.

Minority leader Mitch McConnell, who knows a thing or two about court fights, argued that

the GOP has already had a lot of success with the courts. He suggested that one liberal jurist replacing another

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