White House Rallies Activists For Pressure on Estrada Nomination
The Bush administration has targeted 11 states for an all-out grass roots effort to short-circuit Democrats and permit a floor vote on Estrada's nomination to the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals.
In a Friday afternoon conference call featuring Counsel to President Bush Alberto Gonzales, former U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese and dozens of conservative activists from around the country, the White House sought to rally its allies in a public relations and media blitz during the recess.
"Our success in this particular effort will depend very much on what happens during the next 10 days," Gonzales said Friday, calling the Senate recess period "probably the most critical 10 days in the nomination of this very important nominee."
The urgency of the White House plan was underscored by Meese, now a fellow at the Heritage Foundation, who told more than three dozen activists, "The stakes in this could not be higher and as a result, we can't let the obstructionists prevail in this very difficult contest."
Meese and Gonzales urged conservatives to use their institutional communications to encourage activists to contact the media and the district offices of senators in calling for a floor vote on Estrada's nomination.
A considerable part of the White House strategy involves sending letters to the editor of local newspapers, particularly those in states with senators who have not backed an up-or-down vote on Estrada.
"The one thing that we know the senators read, and their staffs read, is the letters to the editor," said Meese, who urged letter writers to "criticize this obstructionist filibuster and indicate how important it is to follow the constitutional process."
The 11 states targeted by the White House include Florida, California, Delaware, Indiana, Arkansas, Louisiana, Hawaii, Vermont, West Virginia, New Mexico and South Carolina.
While the political stakes involve whether Bush will have his judicial nominees confirmed in a Senate with a slim Republican majority, the philosophical arguments involve the question of whether judges will be confirmed by 51 votes -- a simple Senate majority -- or the 60 votes needs to break a filibuster.
"A filibuster has never been successfully used in American history to block an appeals court nominee," said Gonzales, who called the Democrats' plan "an extreme tactic."
Aside from Estrada's qualifications, which include service in the Solicitor General's Office during the Clinton administration and arguing 15 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, Gonzales also stressed the personal background of Estrada.
Estrada barely spoke English when he arrived in the U.S. at the age of 17, and Gonzales called Estrada's personal history "A wonderful story that will resonate with the American people, I'm convinced of that." Estrada is the first Hispanic to be nominated to the D.C. appellate court.
Democrats have blocked Estrada's nomination since May 2001, most recently claiming that he hasn't sufficiently answered questions put before him during his confirmation hearing. But Meese characterized the Democrats' move as one that compels nominees to "commit themselves to a liberal litmus test in order to get confirmed."
"The only thing that he has refused, and properly so, is to answer how he would rule - either directly or indirectly answer how he would rule - on a case in the future," said Meese, who added that U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg took an almost identical position during her confirmation.
"This is nothing but an obstructionist trick," said Meese.