In Their Own Words: Embraced by the Right

Within minutes of learning that President Bush intended to nominate Judge John Roberts to fill the seat vacated by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, Right Wingers were flooding the press with praise for the nominee.

For weeks, the Right had been vocally opposing the potential nomination of Alberto Gonzales because of fears that he did not completely share their extremist ideology. In addition to opposing Gonzales, the Right repeatedly demanded that President Bush refuse to nominate any sort of "consensus" candidate and, instead, give them what he had promised: a nominee in the mold of Scalia and Thomas.

In the hours leading up to President Bush's announcement, the Family Research Council's Tony Perkins was urging right wing activists to pray to ensure "that he makes the right nomination": "We need to pray that [Bush] makes the right nominate [sic], and it's very clear to us that we know where they stand," said Perkins. "I don't have to tell you how important this is, and I want to encourage you - especially if you have prayer networks in your church - to pray as the president moves toward making these nominations."

And judging by the Right's response to the Roberts nomination, the Right's prayers have been answered and President Bush has kept his promise.

Perkins immediately praised Bush as "a man of his word" saying, "He promised to nominate someone along the lines of a Scalia or a Thomas, and that is exactly what he has done." Elsewhere, Perkins was quoted as saying "There's no question that President Bush is a promise keeper" while Lou Sheldon of the Traditional Values Coalition said: "Conservatives who supported George W. Bush have no reason to be disappointed. He has more than fulfilled his pledge."

Pat Robertson was almost giddy, claiming that Roberts was "exactly [the sort of nominee] the president said he would give us" and bragging that he "was at the top of the list of candidates that Jay Sekulow and the ACLJ put together."
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The Rev. Rob Schenck of the National Clergy Council announced that "The nomination of Judge John G. Roberts is an answer to the prayers of millions of Americans." Jeff Mazzella of the Center for Individual Freedom proclaimed that "President Bush has kept his campaign promise" and that view was shared by Frank Pavone of Priests for Life: "the President has kept his promise."

In fact, several other Right Wing groups seem to share this view:

• Concerned Women for America: "Everything we know about Judge Roberts tells us that he fulfills the President's promise."
• Christian Coalition: "We are believing that President Bush kept his campaign promise today when he nominated John Roberts to the Supreme Court. We are trusting that Judge Roberts is in the mold of Supreme Court justices who President Bush promised to appoint to the Supreme Court: such as Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas."
• American Family Association: "President Bush … has kept his promise."
• Focus on the Family: "President Bush is to be commended for keeping his promise to the American people."
• Coalition for a Fair Judiciary: "The President has kept his promise."
• Judicial Confirmation Network: "President Bush has kept his promise to the American people."

Operation Rescue praised President Bush for "being a man of his word by appointing a judge that will respect the Right to Life" and praised Roberts for having "strong conservative credentials with indications that he will not uphold Roe v. Wade." Joe Scheidler, the National Director of the Pro-Life Action League, proclaimed that Roberts is "exactly the kind of judge I want to appear before when I bring my case to the Supreme Court."

The Right is so excited by the Roberts nomination that they immediately began mobilizing for his confirmation.

Progress for America announced that it has "pledged an initial $18 million" to defend Roberts and even launched a website - JudgeRoberts.com - as part of the campaign.

Pat Robertson's American Center for Law and Justice has already started a petition in support of Roberts: "We must urge the Senate Judiciary Committee to do its work well - to strongly approve Judge Roberts and pass his nomination on quickly to the full Senate for a vote."

Fidelis, an organization that had already run ads calling on Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid to "keep religion out of future Supreme Court confirmation hearings," quickly dusted off the "Religious McCarthyism" strategy, warning that Roberts' "confirmation hearings are ripe for anti-religious bigotry." Fidelis went on to threaten that every statement "about Judge Roberts will be watched. If any Senator crosses the line and attacks Judge Roberts because of his Catholic faith or family life, they will be held accountable."

Make no mistake: the Radical Right is overjoyed by the nomination of John Roberts because they believe President Bush has kept his promise and given them exactly what they demanded: a nominee in the mold of Scalia and Thomas. And that ought to sound alarm bells for everyone who believes that the Supreme Court must protect the basic rights and legal protections that the far-right is eager to dismantle.