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The Democratic Strategist

Political Strategy for a Permanent Democratic Majority

The Anti-Confirmation Machine Warms Up

David Wiegel of The Washington Independent has a good article up providing an introduction to the conservative network that will lead the charge against President Obama’s first Supreme Court nominee, whoever she or he turns out to be.
As Weigel explains, this fight will occur even if there is zero chance that the Senate will actually reject Obama’s nominee:

Movement conservatives are in a position to oppose the nomination of almost any nominee that the president puts forward. In conversation with TWI, activists portrayed the coming confirmation hearings as a chance to peel the bark off of the president’s bipartisan image, to unite the conservative movement, and to learn lessons for future hearings with higher stakes. Few imagined that the president could get a much more liberal pick than retiring Justice David Souter through the Senate. Their focus was not so much on defeating this pick — an incredibly difficult task with only 40 Republican senators — but on carving out an election issue for the 2010 midterms and on building capital for a theoretical future battle to replace one of the court’s conservatives.

There’s more in the piece about score-settling by conservative judicial activists who want to punish Democrats for alleged unfair treatment of the judicial nominees of the sainted George W. Bush; this is, after all, a career gig for a lot of these folks, some of whom cut their teeth back in the Bork era.
It wouldn’t be an article about conservative activists without at least one howler of a remark, and it was offered up by Kellyanne Conway, the sorta-kinda pollster and veteran television presence who’s now part of the GOP’s judicial agitprop ministry. Mentioning the high likelihood that Obama’s first Court nominee will be a woman, Conway complained:

“Can you imagine any of Obama’s nominees being treated the way that Sarah Palin and her family were treated by the media?” asked Conway. “It’s ‘interesting,’ as they say in Washington. Gender and class ended up being a huge obstacle for one person, and they’re likely to be a huge boost to this person that Barack Obama selects.”

Wow, talk about drinking your own kool-aid. Does Conway really think Sarah Palin’s gender was a “huge obstacle” to her success, compared, say, to what she said?
Amazing how yesterday’s talking points become instant history.

One comment on “The Anti-Confirmation Machine Warms Up

  1. Joe Corso on

    “Can you imagine any of Obama’s nominees being treated the way that Sarah Palin and her family were treated by the media?” asked Conway.
    Well, if he nominates Britney Spears or the octomom, yeah.

    Reply

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