Groucho Marx famously sang “Whatever It Is, I’m Against It.” Change “whatever” to “whoever” and you could have a theme song for groups getting set to try to derail a SCOTUS nominee, even though we don’t yet know who it will be. But there are also groups ready to sing “Whoever It Is, I’m For It.”
The announcement of Justice David Souter’s imminent retirement is bringing the battle over the next nominee to the fore.
When the last two Supreme Court openings cropped up, a conservative group called Progress for America was ready to enter the fray with some $18M to spend, according to the Washington Post. That group in no long extant, but several other conservative watchdogs are said to be cobbling together a strategy and a warchest, well before the identity of the next nominee is known.
According to WaPo, there is little chance for conservatives to upend President Obama’s choice, but the process still provides an excellent opportunity to fire up the base, spark debate and raise funds.
Organizations on the left, instead of playing defense as they did with Roberts and Alito, will be doing their best to provide an equal and opposite reaction to the conservative groups and grease the wheels for the next nominee.
RBR/TVBR observation: This may not be the greatest windfall in issue advertising history, but any little bit helps in a recession, and it’s nice that this battle will be fought during a political off-year.
