MATTHEW HANSEN / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Saturday, July 16, 2005 7:00 pm
The battle lines are drawn, the TV attack ads planned, the buzzwords like "activist judges" and "right-wing extremists" offered without a second's hesitation or an ounce of guilt.
There's only one thing missing from the battle already beginning to rage in Nebraska.
An actual U.S. Supreme Court nominee over which to spar.
"The nominee is only one part of the fight," says Ben Brandzel of MoveOn.org, a left-wing group set to oppose whomever President George W. Bush nominates to replace the retiring Sandra Day O'Connor.
"The fight for our rights has already begun."
That fight will soon be taken to Nebraska's airwaves, its phone lines and its mailboxes as right- and left-wing groups, flush with money from national organizations, try to influence opinion in a state that's increasingly seen as a key player in deciding the next U.S. Supreme Court justice.
Why? Because Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., boasts of voting with President George W. Bush more than almost any other senator in his party. And because Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., has loudly criticized various Bush policies in the past year.
Both sides are hopeful that both U.S. Senate votes are up for grabs during confirmation hearings to fill O'Connor's spot on the bench.
It's a vacancy that liberals and conservatives agree is vitally important because her replacement may swing the court on such hot-button issues as abortion, gay marriage, the separation of church and state and the environment.
"We do have two independent senators who don't necessarily follow party lines," says Dean Dennhardt, a local spokesman for Progress for America, a conservative group. "So there's an opportunity here for Nebraskans, for our leaders, to have a voice during this thing."
Recognizing this, Progress for America's national leadership is planning to spend money on television ads and direct mailings in Nebraska, he says. The local chapter will hold press conferences and talk to as many Nebraskans as possible about why they should support Bush's as-yet unnamed nominee.
The level of organization is stunning at this stage of the nomination and confirmation process, but also necessary if Progress for America wants to leave an impression on the state's citizens and politicians, he says.
"We remember the Bork nomination, what the left did during that nomination," Dennhardt says, referencing President Ronald Reagan's failed attempt to place Robert Bork on the U.S. Supreme Court more than a decade ago. "We just refuse to let that happen to this president's nominee."
Bork's nomination was rejected by the Senate in 1987 after a memorable battle.
The Judicial Confirmation Network, another influential conservative group expected to support whomever Bush nominates, also plans to spend money in Nebraska.
The Nebraska Family Council and Family First already have joined the local chapter, says Christine Vanderford, a Lincoln lawyer and the local organizer for the Judicial Confirmation Network.
These groups are clearly interested in banning legal abortions, which conservatives see as newly possible because of the retirement of the pro-choice O'Connor, but the Judicial Confirmation Network also cares about a plethora of conservative issues Vanderford feels have been ignored by the U.S. Supreme Court in the past.
"A judge's stance on Roe is important, but that's not the only issue, so don't paint it that way," Vanderford says. "Generally I'd like to see less judicial activism, more religious freedom, more religious expression."
Camellia Watkins' wish list couldn't be more opposite. The local Sierra Club chapter president wants the U.S. Supreme Court to protect the environment and such legislation as the Clean Air Act and the public lands laws.
She's also hopeful that if Congress passes a federal gay marriage ban it would be overturned by the country's highest court.
"In all of our speeches and things we're gonna say that we don't want an extremist," Watkins says. "We just want a consensus nominee."
Watkins is the local organizer of the Nebraska Judicial Nominations Coalition. Like its right-wing counterparts, this group is a national organization birthed during the fight over Bush's stalled federal judicial nominations.
The left-wing group is getting assistance from such existing organizations as Nebraskans for Peace, the NAACP and several pro-choice groups, she says.
The coalition is planning to hand out fliers at concerts arguing for a moderate Supreme Court nominee and to hold town hall meetings and teach volunteers to use phone banks to reach Nebraska constituents.
"We definitely can't come up with the kind of money the other side has, "Watkins says. "But like I've always said, they may have more money than us, but we can always have more people than they do."
Much of Nebraska's left-wing spending during the judicial fight will come courtesy of Moveon.org, the upstart Web site renowned for raising Internet donations in $10 and $20 increments.
The group will air ads in Nebraska and other key states in the coming months, questioning Bush's behavior during the Terri Schiavo case and urging him to nominate a moderate Supreme Court justice, Brandzel says.
He's not hopeful the ads will make Bush change his mind, but he does hope public pressure may sway Nelson to vote against Bush's nominee.
"I think the administration will apply a tremendous amount of pressure to Nelson," Brandzel says. "Our goal is to show him that people in Nebraska care about basic rights and not a partisan struggle."
The struggle for U.S. Supreme Court supremacy has no immediate end in sight, especially considering Chief Justice William Rehnquist is rumored to be stepping down soon, Dennhardt says.
He remembers seeing the ailing chief justice barely able to stand up during Bush's second inaugural.
"One (vacancy) is enough," he says. "Two's gonna be an absolute zoo."
Reach Matthew Hansen at 473-7245 or mhansen@journalstar.com.