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Politics : Discuss the candidates honestly. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John Carragher who wrote (2075)	7/22/2004 12:13:27 PM
From: American Spirit	Respond to of 4965

American Bar Association tired of Bushie smears: Lawyers' Group Tired of Political Slams Thu Jul 22,12:36 AM ET Add Politics - AP to My Yahoo! By DOUGLASS K. DANIEL, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON - The American Bar Association is asking Republicans and Democrats to stop using lawyers and judges as "convenient scapegoats to scare the public." "We recognize that campaign debate may involve our court systems, judges or the legal profession," ABA president Dennis W. Archer said in a letter Tuesday to the chairmen of the Republican and Democratic parties. "For the role of lawyers and judges to be addressed in those debates is natural. For it to happen in a manner that demonizes a profession steeped in the traditions of public service is unnecessary, unproductive and offensive," Archer wrote. The nonpartisan ABA, based in Chicago, has more than 400,000 members and provides accreditation for law schools, programs for lawyers and judges, and other services. More than 1 million lawyers work in the United States, it says. Democratic presidential candidates John Kerry (news - web sites) and John Edwards (news - web sites) have received millions in campaign contributions from lawyers. Republicans and lobbying organizations have criticized Edwards, who earned millions as a trial attorney before turning to politics, for his ties to the legal profession from the day Kerry selected him as his running mate. Kerry, a Massachusetts senator, previously was a prosecutor and lawyer in private practice. On Monday while campaigning in Missouri, Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites) said Kerry and Edwards have opposed changes to the medical malpractice insurance system because they are too close to trial lawyers. President Bush (news - web sites) often refers to "activist judges" when he criticizes gay marriage and other initiatives that have received judicial backing. "Because of the gravity of the issues confronting voters, we hope the major parties — the world's preeminent political institutions — will agree to focus on a discussion of those issues and not resort to name-calling and finger-pointing or use convenient scapegoats to scare the public," Archer wrote. The Democratic National Committee (news - web sites) has enlisted a veteran of the culture wars to raise the profile of the future of the Supreme Court in the presidential campaign. Kate Michelman, who was president of NARAL-Pro-Choice America for two decades, will head the DNC's Campaign to Save the Court. "They have brought me aboard to help educate voters about the threat to our rights," Michelman said Wednesday in a telephone interview. "In this election, our rights and liberties are on the ballot." Michelman said at least three vacancies on the high court are possible over the next few years, and that those nominations could be crucial to the future of women's rights, especially reproductive rights, civil rights, workers' rights, the environment and other issues. The campaign will raise money and do much of its communication through e-mail, expanding on a base of 300,000 who have already expressed interest in the future of the court. Campaign board members include: Democratic activist Donna Brazile, legal expert Laurence Tribe, former Rep. Pat Schroeder of Colorado and Democratic activists Linda Chavez-Thompson and Tony Coelho. ___ The 300,000 member National Association of Letter Carriers on Wednesday endorsed the Democratic presidential ticket of Sens. John Kerry and John Edwards. The vote was the first time the postal union had expressed a preference in this year's contest for the White House. The labor union had abstained when the AFL-CIO endorsed Kerry earlier this year. Edwards' mother is a retired rural letter carrier. Rural letter carriers are represented by a different union. "The feeling of our members is that Kerry is more closely aligned with workers' rights and workers' issues than the current administration," said union president William H. Young. The 115-year-old union branches in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Guam. ___ Campaign finance watchdogs are adding a pro-Republican group to the list of partisan interest groups they contend are illegally raising unlimited donations to spend in this fall's presidential election. Democracy 21, the Center for Responsive Politics and the Campaign Legal Center filed a complaint Wednesday with the Federal Election Commission (news - web sites) accusing the Progress for America Voter Fund of breaking a law banning the use of soft money — which can include corporate, union and unlimited donations — for federal election activity. The complaint says the group is breaking the law by failing to register with the FEC as a political action committee and by raising so-called soft money to spend on federal election activity. The complaint also says the group's leaders are too closely tied to President Bush's campaign. Brian McCabe, president of the Progress for America Voter Fund, said the group has done nothing wrong. He said the group has "every intention of remaining fully active and engaged in the issues debate by taking our message directly to the public in numerous states across America." The watchdog groups filed similar complaints earlier this year targeting pro-Democratic groups spending soft money against Bush and in some cases in support of Kerry. Those groups have denied any wrongdoing. ___ Associated Press writers Marc Humbert in Albany, N.Y., Will Lester in Nantucket, Mass., and Sharon Theimer in Washington contributed to this report.