A coalition of leftish groups appears to have created a playbook for opposing President Trump’s nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, and, like puppets, Democratic senators already are following it.
The playbook that came into my hands self-identifies as being the work of MoveOn, Demand Justice, NARAL Pro-Choice America, the Sunrise Movement, and three other hyper-liberal organizations. Its first action item under the category of “Messaging” is called “Slogans,” and the first three slogans it lists are “no confirmation before inauguration,” “let the people decide,” and “our future, our justice.”
Very quickly, New Jersey Democrat Cory Booker tweeted, “No confirmation vote until after the inauguration.” Massachusetts Democrat Elizabeth Warren tweeted, “No confirmation before the inauguration.” Oregon Democrat Jeff Merkley did likewise.
The memo also contains “sample social media content.” Among the key items is that Barrett supposedly will join other conservative court members to “kick millions off their insurance in the middle of a pandemic.” Naturally, Democrat Ron Wyden of Oregon tweeted, “Millions of Americans will be left without health care in the middle of a pandemic.” Hawaii’s Brian Schatz: “Healthcare is about to be ripped from millions of Americans in the middle of a pandemic.” Likewise, Connecticut’s Richard Blumenthal: “Hundreds of millions of Americans … in the middle of a pandemic.”
And so on, right down the list of slogans and talking points and right down the list of Democratic senators. Are these senators so dull that they can’t think for themselves? Are they sheep who bleat only when their shepherds call them?
This has been going on for decades, with what Democratic Capitol Hill staffers long have called “the groups” calling the shots, combining their fundraising might, and deciding on lines of attack, often personal, against Republicans. As a National Review online editorial put it when discussing Senate Democratic memos unearthed in 2003, the memos “discussed Democratic strategies for blocking the president’s nominees.” Then, as now, “the memos revealed just how closely Senate Democrats worked with outside interest groups.”
The most infamous of those earlier memos, of course, explained that “the groups” particularly wanted Senate Democrats to oppose appellate court nominee Miguel Estrada for no better reason than that “he is Latino, and the White House seems to be grooming him for a Supreme Court appointment.”
This time, the key message is, in the words of the Planned Parenthood “action” guide, that “Trump has promised to nominate and appoint justices who will [outlaw abortion] and undermine access to health care.”
Oddly, I can’t find a single quote from Trump saying he wants justices to undermine access to healthcare. But who needs truth when scare tactics will do?
As Barrett goes through the confirmation process, the public must understand that the attacks against her are being orchestrated in advance by powerful interest groups with interlocking tentacles. The character assassinations that always come are the sleaziest of politics, and they absolutely should not succeed.
