Today, Sen. Ted Kennedy said “It’s wrong to drag the federal courts into the voting booth.”
But in a whole series of yesterdays, of which the following are only examples…
Senator Torricelli:
If we fail, not only does Ted Kennedy lose control of our ability to govern labor laws, not only does Patrick Leahy lose the ability to control the ideologues who get on the federal courts and the Supreme Court, we lose the our agenda of government itself.
New York Times, 9/24/2002
Ann Richards campaigning for Mel Carnahan, 2000:
“Everything you can think of is going to be up for grabs before that Supreme Court, and I want to make sure that we’ve got a Senate that’s going to scrutinize anybody nominated,” she said.
She said abortion rights, Social Security and health care need to be protected from the “bizarre” and “right-wing nature” of the GOP Senate.
St. Louis Post Dispatch, 6/27/2000
“Democrats Ask Nader to Back Gore in Swing States”:
“I’ve tried very carefully to convey to Nader supporters our highest regard for his career,” said Ralph G. Neas, the president of People for the American Way. “But I want him and his supporters to know how history will view him in the final analysis if he gives the Supreme Court to the right wing.”
New York Times, 10/31/2000
Democrats:
There are indications that the Court is more prominent in this year’s election than it has been since 1968, with 36 percent of voters in a recent Newsweek poll indicating that they regard Supreme Court appointments as a significant election issue.
Democrats are attempting to cultivate this issue by warning voters that the fate of abortion rights, affirmative action, gun control and gay rights all hinge upon judicial appointments that the next president is likely to make.
Legal Times, 10/9/2000
Al Gore Supporters:
A new riff on an old slogan has caught the fancy of Al Gore’s presidential supporters.
“It’s the Supreme Court, Stupid,” goes the new version, sported on buttons eight years after President Clinton won the White House by insisting “It’s the Economy, Stupid.”
Cleveland Plain Dealer, 10/16/2000
Al Gore in first debate with Bush:
[The Supreme Court] is on the ballot in this election, make no mistake about it.
New York Times transcript, 10/4/2000
I don’t recall Sen. Kennedy objecting to any of these examples of dragging the federal courts into the voting booth, but then my memory is not what it used to be.
