RNC TRIES TO SCARE PEOPLE INTO ACCEPTING ADMINISTRATION'S JUDICIAL NOMINEES. I don't think there is any other way to describe the mass e-mail from the RNC that I got on Friday, and that prompted me to fire off suppportive e-mails to both New York Senators (see below for one) and two cranky e-mails to the RNC itself. For recent coverage of the issue [of Bush's nomination of Miguel Estrada and the threatened Democratic filibuster, that is], see this article in The Hill.

Here's the beginning of the original mass e-mail from the RNC:

A pattern is forming. President Bush puts forward a positive agenda to move our nation forward. Democrat presidential candidates oppose it because of politics. So it is no surprise that Senator Joe Lieberman has joined liberal democrats in filibustering President Bush’s nomination of the first Hispanic to possibly sit on the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals - viewed by many as the second highest court in the U.S. Senate Democrat's continue to obstruct the judicial nomination process, a move that has shocked legal scholars and even more moderate members of the Democrat party.

Democrat Senator John Breaux responded by saying, "The country is at orange alert. People are stockpiling water and duct tape. Who knows if we're going to war in two weeks, and we're going to shut down everything to filibuster a person the American Bar Association has unanimously said is well qualified?"

With our courts in crisis and serious challenges facing our nation, we cannot afford such reckless and shameful partisan politics.. Contact Senator Joe Lieberman today and tell him to stop pandering to liberal interest groups and end this filibuster now.

The last sentence of the paragraph is hyperlinked and eventually sends you to a page where you can, in one click, mail or e-mail a pre-written letter to Senator Lieberman. I must have gotten on the RNC's mailing list when I was in Connecticut; I imagine that folks on their list will get custom e-mails for their own state. This letter reads as follows:

I am outraged that some in the Senate are playing politics with the nomination of Miguel Estrada, a highly qualified nominee for the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals. Estrada has earned the support of a bipartisan majority of your colleagues, and his experience and integrity have been praised by leading Democrats. However, Senator Tom Daschle is now proposing to throw out the Senate’s tradition of never filibustering a judicial nominee, and block a vote on Estrada no matter what the cost. That is wrong.

Senator Lieberman, I hope you remember that the concerns of your consituents are more important than 2004 presidential politics. I ask you to oppose this reckless and outrageous filibuster against a good man who is uniquely qualified to serve by virtue of his superb credentials and extensive legal experience. Miguel Estrada deserves an up or down vote. At this critical time for our nation, we cannot afford this shameful and petty display of partisan politics.

Now, I understand that everyone is going to play hardball here. They should. Both Republicans and Democrats disagree on critical issues related to the role of judges and the proper direction for law on crime, abortion, race, property, and, in many cases, public support for religion. In addition, President Bush has been pretty consistent at seeing the issue of judicial confirmations through the eyes of religiously-motivated members of his governing coalition. So, in a sense, I don't begrudge the Republicans the fact that they are going for gold.

I agree with Michael Kinsley's editorial in the Washington Post this week, however: Estrada has sought to avoid giving his views on controversial matters, and the Senate is right to raise a fuss about this. In addition, Kinsley is right to point out that judicial confirmation battles "bring out the hypocrite in politicians of both parties."

The main problem I have with the RNC's strategy is that it brings the issue of terrorism into play in a particularly shocking fashion. In attempting to spin the issue of Democratic threats of a filibuster as an act of irresponsibility "at this critical time for our nation," the RNC is signalling their willingness to use public fears of terrorism for their own narrowly partisan goals. At a time in which many of my friends are nervously worrying whether or not they should stock up on duct tape, the last thing they should be thinking about is whether or not their fears are being used for narrow -- not public-good seeking -- ends.

For good measure, here is an e-mail I sent to the RNC:

From "Brett Marston"
Subject your e-mails
Date Fri, February 14, 2003 8:39 am
To info@rnc.org

----------------------------------------------------------

Generally I appreciate receiving your mass e-mails, but the latest one you sent me regarding the Estrada nomination has really highlighted the incredible dangers that your strategies can create. In explicitly linking the entirely understandable Democratic desire to filibuster a judicial nominee (these are, as Republicans are not loath to point out when "liberal" judges are on the docket, lifetime appointments after all, and the DC is a feeder court for the Supreme Court as well) to the dangers this country is facing with respect to terrorism, you expose yourself to the worst kind of criticism: true, pointblank, angry criticism concerning your willingness to exploit fears of terrorism for partisan ends. You should be ashamed of yourself. When Gerhard Schroeder uses this same tactic in Germany, Republicans in particular level the most insulting charges. As far as I'm concerned, what's good for the goose is good for the gander. If the Republicans want to be a responsible, trustworthy party, you all should start acting like it.

Sincerely,

Brett Marston

Needless to say, I haven't heard back from them.