"It's important to point out that voters don't get to pick justices; we pick a president who hopefully has the right discernment of character to evaluate people for life tenure on the court," said Wendy Long, chief counsel for the Judicial Confirmation Network, a conservative-leaning group that is running the new commercial. "Based on the evidence of people like Reverend Wright, Obama has deficiency in that area."

Read More >>>

There were not many conspicuous tributes to the legacy of President Bush at last month's Republican National Convention, but there was at least one.

It was a campaign button with the words "Thanks, W" across the top and photos of Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. beneath the letters.

Conservative legal activists view the two men as remarkable successes in Bush's quest to move the court to the right, and that is part of the reason that, as the court begins its work anew today, public attention is focused less on the cases at hand than on the court's future.

It is a future entirely dependent on whether Sen. John McCain or Sen. Barack Obama prevails in November.

"A President Obama or a President McCain will likely be handed an opportunity to affect the makeup of the Supreme Court that is unprecedented in our history," said Wendy Long, chief counsel for the Judicial Confirmation Network, which was active in generating public support for the confirmations of Roberts and Alito. ...

...Judicial Confirmation Network's Long said McCain's speech offered more details than "any presidential candidate in history" about the qualities he would look for in judges.

Read More >>>

Friday, the Judicial Confirmation Network, a conservative group, hit the air with advertisements that imply that the Democratic presidential nominee, Sen. Barack Obama, wouldn't fill future Supreme Court vacancies with worthy candidates. The group said it will spend $550,000 to run television ads in swing states like Ohio. ...

...In the Judicial Confirmation Network ad, an announcer says: "We don't know who Barack Obama would choose, but we know this: He chose as his pastor a man who has blamed America for the [Sept. 11] attacks," while voting against Mr. Bush's high-court nominees John Roberts and Samuel Alito. The Obama campaign declined to comment on the ad.

The $550,000 ad buy isn't a lot of money by presidential-campaign standards. The group plans to leverage its exposure by airing the ad on Fox News Channel nationwide ahead of a speech by Mr. Bush on Monday, said Gary Marx, the network's executive director. Mr. Bush is scheduled to speak in Cincinnati to the Federalist Society, a conservative lawyers network.

Mr. Marx said the ad could help the group's long-term strategy. "We want to recruit and build a strong membership base so we're in a good position to influence the debate no matter who's president of the United States," he said.

Read More >>>

"I think the consensus is Roe will fall slowly and incrementally, not in one decision," says Wendy Long, a former Thomas clerk and counsel to the Judicial Confirmation Network. "And the day after Roe is reversed, abortion still will not be illegal," she said, since many states would not outlaw it.

Read More >>>

Some conservative lawyers agree that a McCain victory would only set the stage for overruling Roe. Regardless of who wins the White House, Democrats probably will maintain a majority in the Senate, and they could block a staunchly conservative McCain nominee to the Supreme Court.

"I think the consensus is Roe will fall slowly and incrementally, not in one decision," says Wendy Long, a former clerk for Thomas and counsel to the Judicial Confirmation Network, which was formed to support President Bush's nominees. "And the day after Roe is reversed, abortion still will not be illegal," she added, as many states would not outlaw it.

Read More >>>

Conservatives say Bush's two Supreme Court appointees, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, are by far his most significant.

Both are young by Supreme Court standards - Roberts is 53 and Alito is 57 - and have proven to be reliably conservative, unlike some of the justices chosen by Reagan and the first President Bush.

"The two picks he had, he hit out of the park," said Wendy E. Long, counsel for the Judicial Confirmation Network and a member of the Federalist Society, which is sponsoring Bush's visit to Cincinnati.

She and others on the right say Bush's appointments have swung the courts away from "liberal, activist judges" who would rather make law from the bench than enforce the law as it's written.

"He's laid the groundwork," Long said. "We've seen some modest moves back to judicial restraint."

Read More >>>

"A President Obama or a President McCain will likely be handed an opportunity to affect the make-up of the Supreme Court that is unprecedented," said Wendy Long of the Judicial Confirmation Network, a group of conservative legal activists.

Read More >>>

A nonprofit that advocates the appointment of conservative judges is spending about $500,000 on ads in Michigan, Ohio and on Fox News Channel questioning Obama's past associations, including with his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

The Judicial Confirmation Network, a 501(c)4 organization, will begin airing and ad on Fox News Channel and in small markets in Ohio and Michigan and timed for the new Supreme Court term that begins Monday. The ad cites Obama's associations with Antoin "Tony" Rezko, once one of Obama's top fundraisers; Bill Ayers, a founder of the 1960s radical group, the Weather Underground; and Wright, whom Obama disavowed over his incendiary claims.

Read More >>>

(CNN) The conservative group Judicial Confirmation Network is launching a new television ad in key battleground states Wednesday that in part features Barack Obama's ties to the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the controversial pastor who nearly derailed the Illinois senator's presidential bid last spring.

The independent ad is the first campaign spot in the general election to highlight Obama's lengthy relationship with Wright, a subject that generated considerable media scrutiny during the primary season but one John McCain has said should not be an issue in the race for the White House.

The ad also ties Obama to William Ayers and Tony Rezko--two prominent and controversial figures in Chicago. Ayers, a University of Chicago professor, was a founder of the 1960's radical group Weatherman that claimed responsibility for bombing the Pentagon. Rezko is a real estate developer convicted earlier this year of mail fraud, attempted extortion and money laundering who helped Obama secure a property in Chicago. Both men have been longtime supporters of Obama's political career, but the Illinois senator has said he is not close to either one of them.

Earlier: McCain says Ayers connection 'open to question'

A spokeswoman for the group says more than $500,000 is being spent on the ad, which is set to run in Ohio and Michigan markets through Election Day. It will also run nationally on Fox News during the upcoming debates.

The organization is classified as a 501(c)4, and as such does not have to disclose its donors to the Federal Election Commission. it's the second 501(c)4 to launch an ad attacking Obama Wednesday Veterans for Freedom, which opposes his position on the war in Iraq, is spending more than $2 million on an ad taking aim at the Illinois senator.

"Choosing the right justices is critical for America," the ad's announcer states. "We don't know who Barack Obama would choose, but we know this: He chose as one of his first financial backers a slumlord now convicted on 16 counts of corruption. Obama chose as an associate a man who helped to bomb the Pentagon and said he 'didn't do enough.' And Obama chose as his pastor a man who has blamed America for the 9/11 attacks.

"Obama chose to associate with these men, while voting against these men," the announcer also says, as images of current Supreme Court Justices John Roberts and Samuel Alito are shown.

The group, which advocates naming conservative justices to the bench, says the ad is part of a $1 million grassroots campaign to "to raise awareness and recruit activists on the critical issue of the U.S. Supreme Court." The campaign will also include an extensive outreach effort including direct mail, e-mail, and text messaging.

Read More >>>

And a prominent conservative judicial watch group, the Judicial Confirmation Network, this week is kicking in $1 million and likely more to raise questions about the kind of judges Obama would pick. The group plans to air a TV ad on Fox and in many Ohio and Michigan markets to warn that Obama will tilt the court left. Wendy Long, the group's chief council, told us that conservatives worry Obama will pick "more liberal and judicial activists who treat the court as a policy-making body." Citing a McCain speech about the court, she said that he is more likely to pick strict constitutionalists, like Bush has. Of course, that's a red flag for liberals who want the court to be a little more flexible when addressing key issues like abortion.And a prominent conservative judicial watch group, the Judicial Confirmation Network, this week is kicking in $1 million and likely more to raise questions about the kind of judges Obama would pick. The group plans to air a TV ad on Fox and in many Ohio and Michigan markets to warn that Obama will tilt the court left. Wendy Long, the group's chief council, told us that conservatives worry Obama will pick "more liberal and judicial activists who treat the court as a policy-making body." Citing a McCain speech about the court, she said that he is more likely to pick strict constitutionalists, like Bush has. Of course, that's a red flag for liberals who want the court to be a little more flexible when addressing key issues like abortion.

Read More >>

On Monday, timed to the opening of the Supreme Court's new term, the conservative Judicial Confirmation Network will begin running on ads Fox News Channel attacking Democratic nominee Barack Obama.

"It's kind of a sleeper issue in this election, with so much else going on," said Wendy Long, counsel for the Judicial Confirmation Network, but "our internal polls show people do care about the issue."

On Monday, timed to the opening of the Supreme Court's new term, the conservative Judicial Confirmation Network will begin running on ads Fox News Channel attacking Democratic nominee Barack Obama.

Read More >>