While reading an article from MSNBC’s National Affairs writer Tom Curry about the Democrats plan to to continue their fight to block the confirmation of Judge Samuel Alito, I ran across this little tidbit from Democratic Strategist Roger Hickey:
“I hope Democrats will mount a filibuster. On the one hand it will be a motivating factor for people to vote in November, but on the other hand, if Democrats wimp out and don’t follow up with a filibuster, there will many disappointed voters.”
Hickey said the Alito hearings showed voters that the result of the 2004 election was “it allowed Bush to appoint extremists to the bench.”
Asked whether Alito did in fact appear at the hearings as extremist, Hickey said, “He came across as a nice guy who has some very extreme views.”
But does Hickey quote Alito in an effort to prove he is an extremist? Nope, of course not. He’d have to use words if he did that, and words mean things. For Democrats, words don’t mean things, they are only a tool used to create certain feelings.
Another strategist working for a leftist group trying to defeat Alito spoke on condition of anonymity and said Thursday that opponents may have erred in scattering their fire against the nominee on several different charges, instead of focusing all their fire on Roe v. Wade and privacy rights. Even if they would have completely focused on abortion, there’s no there, there.
The biggest problem the Democrats have today is the perception that their fearless leader, Ted Kennedy made Samuel Alito’s wife cry. With that move, they lost points with women, a constituency they absolutely need if they have any hopes in winning seats come November.