Dozens of interest groups on the right and left are poised to spend millions of dollars and mobilize thousands of activists in an expected fight over a US Supreme Court vacancy, one of the biggest decisions George W Bush will make during his presidency.
With the retirement of ailing Chief Justice William Rehnquist widely anticipated, if far from certain, when the court ends its term next week, advocacy groups are planning for all possibilities.
Both sides have extensive battle plans that feature the trappings of a modern political campaign, including war rooms, phone banks, e-mail lists, grass roots volunteers and paid advertising aimed at shaping public opinion and winning the votes of wavering senators who must confirm Bush's choice.
“Other than a decision to declare war, there is nothing more important in the tenure of a president or a senator than a Supreme Court nomination,” said Ralph Neas, president of the liberal People for the American Way and a leader in the last successful fight against a Supreme Court nominee, Robert Bork, in 1987.
“We have literally been preparing every day for possible Supreme Court vacancies since January 2000,” Neas said. “Our job is to make sure everyone understands what is at stake and gets involved.“
A Supreme Court vacancy would be the first since 1994, when the Senate confirmed Stephen Breyer without a fight. The narrow confirmation of Clarence Thomas in 1991 was the last contested nomination, just four years after the conservative Bork's rejection in a bruising fight.
The battle over a new justice would be the first in the era of competing 24-hour cable news networks, the Internet and an increasingly heated partisan environment, making it possibly “bigger and badder” than ever, said Sean Rushton, executive director of the conservative Committee for Justice.