The Washington Post today reports on the fundraising campaign for and against Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito, which, according to the Post, has not reached the level that many pundits had predicted prior to Alito’s nomination.
The story quotes Nan Aron, president of the left-wing Alliance for Justice: “Momentum is building in opposition.” The Post, however, provides only evidence why momentum is moving in favor of Alito. Last Wednesday, the Post’s own poll with ABC News revealed a majority of Americans wanted Alito confirmed.
The left’s problem appears to be that it has complained so much about President Bush’s judicial nominees - in particular Chief Justice John Roberts and Alito - that the American public has stopped paying attention every time it cries wolf, as it did last Friday with the new round of documents released by the National Archives.
The Post quotes David Garrow, a Supreme Court historian, on this point: "Liberal groups have cried wolf so many times that when we get documents like these about Alito, crying wolf seems to have no resonance for people in the middle."
Democrat fundraiser Frank O'Brien of O'Brien, McConnell & Pearson blamed the feeble anti-Alito campaign on a host of other issues that have distracted liberals. He told the Post that Alito’s 1984 wiretap memo could generate new interest among liberal donors.
The Post also reveals that conservatives have spent more than liberals thus far on Alito advertising. According to the Justice at Stake Campaign, the amount totals $650,000, of which 54% has been spent by conservative groups.
