Republicans for Choice oppose Alito
The Republican Majority for Choice
(RMC) regrettably announces its opposition to the nomination of Judge Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court.
So maybe the Filibuster isn't dead!!!
Maybe we won't even need a filibuster if the Republican's start falling apart on this.
More on the flip
But Judge Alito's position on choice, however, is not the only disappointment surrounding his nomination. The selection of Judge Alito sends a very clear message from the Bush Administration and the Republican leadership in Congress that they are willing to continue steering the party into a marginalized corner that puts it at odds with most voters.
This is the most interesting part. Here you have sane Republicans stating that the Administration is a bunch of wingnuts.
This is how they describe themselves
The Republican Majority for Choice is an organization of Republican men and women throughout the United States, who believe in our party's traditional principles of individual liberty, strong national security and sound economic reason. We endorse the 'big tent' philosophy of inclusion and tolerance on social issues.
The Advisory Committee has 4 senators on it and it is a virtual whose who of Moderate Republicans. Including Arlen Specter.
Advisory Committee
CHAIR
Honorable Pete Wilson (CA)
MEMBERS
Mr. Robert P. Bass, Jr. (NH)
Representative Judy Biggert (IL)
Representative Sherwood L. Boehlert (NY)
Honorable Tom Campbell (CA)
Senator Lincoln Chafee (RI)
Senator Susan Collins (ME)
Lt. Governor Mary Donohue (NY)
President and Mrs. Gerald Ford (CA)
Representative Rodney Frelinghuysen (NJ)
Representative Wayne Gilchrest (MD)
Honorable Benjamin A. Gilman (NY)
Mrs. Barry Goldwater (AZ)
Representative Jim Greenwood (PA)
Honorable Steve Horn (CA)
Representative Amo Houghton, Jr. (NY)
Representative Nancy L. Johnson (CT)
Representative Sue Kelly (NY)
Representative Mark Kirk (IL)
Governor Linda Lingle (HI)
Governor George E. Pataki (NY)
Honorable John Edward Porter (IL)
Governor M. Jodi Rell (CT)
Representative Christopher Shays (CT)
Representative Rob Simmons (CT)
Honorable Alan Simpson (WY)
Senator Olympia Snowe (ME)
Senator Arlen Specter (PA)
Honorable Arliss Sturgulewski (AK)
Honorable Jane Swift (MA)
Honorable Sue Wagner (NV)
State Senator Jeff Wentworth (TX)
The Nation article on the Republicans against Alito is a good read also
Notably, after Alito testified before the committee, the group Republican Majority for Choice (RMC), issued a statement that said, "There is no crystal ball to predict how a Justice Alito would rule in future cases; therefore we have closely monitored the confirmation hearings with the hope that Judge Alito would offer some clarifying statements that would allay our concerns about his record. Instead, he side-stepped the issue of whether or not the right to privacy in the Constitution extends to reproductive choice. He avoided answering whether Roe was settled law and existing precedent required a health exception to statutes limiting a woman's access to abortion."
"Without such assurances, we can only calculate his judicial philosophy on reproductive rights through the prism of his past actions and statements," the RMC statement continued. Referring to retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the critical swing vote on the court with regard to reproductive rights and other issues, the group added, "As the replacement for the architect of the 'undue burden' standard, the stakes are too high for RMC to support an appointee who outlined a blueprint to dismantle that very standard."
Then there is this
article in the Boston Globe which states
Sen. Lincoln Chafee, a GOP swing vote in Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito's Senate confirmation fight, said Thursday he's still undecided about President Bush's high court pick.
Earlier I wasn't hopeful about stopping Alito, as has been stated in many diaries we would need moderate Republicans to win this. Now we have them.
So to all the activists KEEP UP THE PRESSURE. We need to get these Republicans to oppose Alito. If specter comes out against him I think he is dead.