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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LindyBill who wrote (57051)	7/30/2004 9:36:10 AM
From: LindyBill	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 793783

Despite silence, selection of judges an overriding issue July 30, 2004 BY ROBERT NOVAK SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST The carefully scrubbed speeches at the Democratic National Committee completely skirted an issue that was in the forefront of the minds of delegates: Who shall fill vacancies for the U.S. Supreme Court? But the Rev. Al Sharpton blurted it out. As might be expected from the former boy street preacher and this year's Democratic presidential hopeful, Sharpton did not follow the rules. Told to speak for only six minutes, he went on for 23. Told to stick to the approved script on the TelePrompTer, he ad-libbed extravagantly. Told to avoid Bush-bashing, he took dead aim at the president. It was not surprising, then, that Sharpton broke the silence on judges by saying "it is frightening to think that the gain of civil and women's rights and those movements in the last century could be reversed if this administration is in the White House in these next four years." He next delivered one of his most thunderous applause lines in a speech filled with such moments: "I suggest to you tonight that if George Bush had selected the court in '54, Clarence Thomas would have never got to law school." That was the first the delegates had heard about the courts since former Vice President Al Gore delivered the convention's first major speech Monday night. "Let's make sure," said Gore, "that the Supreme Court does not pick the next president and that this president is not the one who picks the next Supreme Court." The 2000 presidential nominee clearly has a special grievance against the present court. Otherwise, there was scarcely a word about judges on the convention floor. The reason is the calculation that talking about judges is more to the advantage of the Republicans than the Democrats. It leads to discussion of abortion and gay rights, issues that Democratic leaders do not want debated too strenuously. The selection and confirmation of federal judges is actually an overriding issue for Democrats and is not neglected by the new party platform that avoids so many other questions. Accusing Bush of "appointing judges more interested in rolling back rights than protecting them," it uses language more temperate than either Gore's or certainly Sharpton's: "We support the appointment of judges who will uphold our laws and constitutional rights, not their own agendas." When he has been before the right audience, presidential nominee John Kerry also hits the issue. Appearing before the National Urban League last week, Kerry talked of "the assault by right-wing judges on our precious civil rights progress. We can change that -- and we will." In a move largely overlooked, Democratic National Chairman Terry McAuliffe has just named abortion rights activist Kate Michelman to head the party's efforts on judges. NARAL (formerly headed by Michelman) is demanding that the Senate filibuster judicial nominees who in advance are not committed to both Roe vs. Wade and the case that overturned Nebraska's ban on partial-birth abortion, Stenberg vs. Carhart. None of this really represents how strongly rank-and-file delegates feel about judicial selection. Primarily, they want to protect the legalization of abortion by Roe vs. Wade, fearing that it would be overturned by a Bush-appointed Supreme Court. Many delegates express fear that such a court would "take away workers' rights," and all cite the Supreme Court's ruling on the 2000 vote recount in Florida. If at the Boston convention talk about judges was restricted to delegate chatter in the aisles plus Sharpton's unscripted outburst from the podium, the issue will be highlighted at the Republican National Convention beginning Aug. 30 in New York. A sample came out this week during the Democratic convention with this message on huge billboards at the FleetCenter and at Logan Airport, put there by the conservative Committee for Justice: "Think (about the Supreme Court): Kerry's Scary."

To: LindyBill who wrote (57051)	7/30/2004 9:38:57 AM
From: unclewest	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 793783

Oliphant makes some good points. One he missed is that Kerry had plenty of time. It was Kerry's choice to focus on Vietnam rather than contemporary issues. Kerry missed a key point too. Vietnam was started by one Demo president, expanded by a second Demo president and ended by a Republican president.