Pubdate: Mon, 21 Nov 2005
Source: Chicago Sun-Times (IL)
Copyright: 2005 The Sun-Times Co.
Contact:  http://www.suntimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/81
Author: Robert Novak, Sun-Times Columnist
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

TV ADS AIM TO INFLUENCE VOTE ON ALITO

Democratic senators from six red states returned home  over the 
weekend for the Thanksgiving recess to  confront television ads 
connecting critics of Judge  Samuel Alito's nomination to the Supreme 
Court with  left-wing special interests. A simultaneous message 
intended ultimately to reach 10 million Americans made  this same point.

The counterattack on Alito's behalf was triggered by  the new TV 
advertisement of the liberal coalition opposing Alito's confirmation 
by the Senate. The ad claimed Alito, as a federal appellate judge, 
"even  voted to approve the strip search of a 10-year-old  girl." 
This distorts a case where a suspected drug  dealer's daughter was 
searched, visibly not manually, by a female police officer in the 
presence of the  child's mother. Alito's defenders make the 
legitimate argument that the assault against him ends up as 
a  defense of drug dealers.

Red-state Democratic senators, especially those up for  re-election 
next year, face a dilemma in deciding how  to vote on confirmation. 
The liberal pressure groups  orchestrating the attack on Alito are 
central to the  political health of the Democratic Party. But 
identification with them could be fatal in closely  contested Senate races.

Alito clearly would mean a shift to the right when  compared with the 
justice he would replace, Sandra Day  O'Connor. Soft-spoken, modest 
and from an immigrant  family, Alito lacked obvious flaws. Just as in 
an  election campaign, the opposition research experts dug  for dirt 
about the nominee.

They thought they hit pay dirt in Doe v. Groody, a 2004  case. But 
Alito's dissent on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court  of Appeals merely 
affirmed the right of Pennsylvania  police to exceed the scope of a 
warrant to search all  the occupants of a home to prevent "the 
removal,  concealment or destruction" of drugs. While avowing "a 
visceral dislike" for searching the young, he called it  "a sad fact 
that drug dealers sometimes use children to  carry out their business 
and to avoid prosecution."

Alito's opinion would not seem to justify rejecting a  Supreme Court 
nominee, and his defenders want to turn  the debate to the nature of 
the opposition. Sponsoring  the strip-search ad were People for the 
American Way,  the Alliance for Justice, and the Leadership 
Conference on Civil Rights. The conservative Committee for  Justice's 
TV ad contends that "liberal groups led by  People for the American 
Way" oppose Alito to "take God  out of the Pledge Allegiance" and 
"redefine  traditional marriage."

This pro-Alito ad has begun playing in Arkansas,  Colorado, Montana, 
Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota  and West Virginia. Identifying 
opposition to Alito with  left-wing special interests is particularly 
unwelcome  by Democratic senators up for re-election next year:  Ben 
Nelson (Neb.), Kent Conrad (N.D.) and Robert Byrd  (W.Va.). It might 
also trouble freshman Sen. Ken  Salazar, who was elected in Colorado 
last year while  promising not to filibuster judges, but who now says 
he  has serious concerns with Alito.

At the same time that the TV ad appeared, the  conservative Judicial 
Confirmation Network last  Thursday sent a memo to 1,500 local and 
state political  leaders belonging to 70 organizations. They are 
capable  of distributing it via e-mail to 10 million people. 
The  memo continued the assault on sponsorship of the  strip-search 
ad by "a coalition of far-left groups led  by People for the American 
Way and Alliance for  Justice."

While revealing the true nature of Doe v. Groody, the  memo says that 
"the liberals contend that children  cannot be searched under the 
Constitution. This would  amount to a 'get out of jail free' card for 
drug  dealers who use young children to stash drugs." The  Law 
Enforcement Alliance of America last week declared  that "these 
shameless attacks on law enforcement  officers and Judge Alito would 
have young children used  as drug mules."

Red-state Democratic senators have to consider  consequences of 
collaboration by their leaders with  architects of the assault on 
Alito. Senate Minority  Leader Harry Reid met Thursday with Wade 
Henderson of  the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, a sponsor of 
the strip-search ad, to plot strategy against Alito  that may not be 
popular with all members of Reid's  caucus.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman