RUTH Bader Ginsburg - the second woman to serve on the US Supreme Court and a pioneering advocate for women's rights, who died at the age of 87 on Sept 18 - has become a cultural icon for America's liberals and women who regarded her as an embodiment of the struggle for gender equality and against all forms of discrimination.

But the death of Justice Ginsburg after a long fight with cancer just 46 days before one of the most controversial presidential elections in American history can be compared to the tossing of a political explosive device into a volatile election campaign whose outcome, according to both Democrats and Republicans, would determine the fate of the nation. The so-called October Surprise has arrived a month earlier than expected.

The choice of the man or woman who would replace Justice Ginsburg on the highest court in the land could impact in the most crucial way on some of the issues that happen to be central to the current presidential campaign, including economic inequality, race relations, and health care.