Conrad (D-ND) may be wavering on Alito! Contact him NOW!

[Wordie]

ND: Kent Conrad
[phone]
Conrad voted for Roberts and is up for re-election in 2006. There are reports that Conrad is wavering, so he needs to hear from you NOW! He reportedly intends to meet with Alito again on Tuesday.
Direct link to the Senator's email contact page: http://conrad.senate.gov/webform.html
FAX: [phone]

Details of Conrad's possible move toward Alito:
Few Democrats Will Back Alito

Unlike John Roberts, who won the support of 22 Democrats last fall, Alito appears headed for a much narrower, virtually party-line vote. So far, just one Democrat, Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska, has said he will vote for Alito. And Alito appears unlikely to win over more than a handful of additional Democrats, if any.

One possibility is Sen. Kent Conrad, like Nelson a "Red State" Democrat who voted for Roberts. Conrad said today he plans to hold a second meeting with Alito next Tuesday — a meeting his staff said came at the White House's request.

Just part of a longer article on where things stand now:
http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=1528370

[msongs]

1. hey Kent, why not just take CASH $$$ and be done with it?

there are nearly 3X more people in my county than in your entire state.

Msongs
www.msongs.com/dean2008.htm

[blockhead]

2. I don't get it...

[Wordie]

3. Visit his website, google to find out what's important to him then contact

him to try to convince him to vote "no"! We can't afford to lose him!

http://conrad.senate.gov

[blockhead]

4. contacted him already...

I didn' get what the other poster was getting at concerning money and population thing

[FreedomAngel82]

6. I sent an Email

It doesn't hurt to try.

[Wordie]

13. Nobody wants to wake up a week or two from now...

and have to say to themselves, "I wonder if we could have stopped Alito if I had just written a few more emails, or sent a few more FAXes. This is the most important political battle in my lifetime, is how I'm looking at it. We MUST stop Alito.

All that was a rather long way of saying, it's GREAT that you sent off that email! Thanks! :)

[Wordie]

8. I see. My apologies. Great that you contacted him! eom

[bostonbabs]

5. done

[stillcool]

7. sent an email.....

[Wordie]

11. Here's what I wrote (everyone, feel free to modify and send as your own)

Dear Senator Conrad:

I understand you have not yet made a decision regarding the confirmation of Judge Alito. Although I am not a constituent, your vote on this issue will have nationwide relevance and so I am contacting you to urge you to reject this nominee.

Here's why he must be rejected:
Senator Feinstein asked Alito, "If we have explicit authority under the Constitution to pass a law, and we pass that law, is the president bound by that law?" And he replied, "The president, like everybody else, is bound by statutes that are enacted by Congress, unless the statutes are unconstitutional, because the Constitution takes precedence over a statute." If confirmed, Alito HIMSELF would be the one to determine the constitutionality of laws, so this was a non-answer. As you know, Alito subsequently refused to answer specific questions relating to how he might rule on such constitutional issues. Although some have found his answers sufficient, on closer inspection it is clear that they are not, and we therefore have only Alito's own statements to guide us. And those statements reveal a frightening philosophy. In 2000, Alito claimed almost limitless powers for the presidency and criticized other courts for limiting executive power. "The president has not just some executive power," he declared, "but the executive power - the whole thing."

As a Senator, our Constitution has defined your duty regarding judicial nominees; the Senate is to provide "advice and consent." There are grave concerns about those aspects of Judge Alito's judicial philosophy that may lead him to upset the balance of powers that the framers of our Constitution so wisely provided for us. Judge Alito, if confirmed, would be on the bench for many decades. If you have even the SMALLEST doubt that his judicial philosophy might result in the elevation of the power of the executive, and thus usurp the powers of the legislative branch, you MUST advise against such a nominee and vote to deny his confirmation. Your country is depending upon you to protect our hard-fought liberties and traditions.

Sincerely,

[SoCalDem]

9. Sorry to hear this, but probably 80% or more of our own dem senators

are just posing.. they will vote to confirm, because they lose nothing by doing it.Sure there will be a few angry constituents, but they still have their cushy jobs, their pensions, their percs..and who knows? perhaps an even cushier job awaits when they hang up their senator-hat..wouldn't do to appear "testy" when they go for that million dollar lobbying job in a few years..

We need to face facts.. We have an imperial congress. We elect people who SAY they want to do our bidding, and only have our interests at heart, but actions speak louder than words..and WHEN WAS the last time any legislation was passed that HELPED the public?

The $1500 college deduction that Clinton got for us was the last I can remember. Everything since then has been a takeaway.

[Wordie]

16. Noooo!!! You forget! Senate Dems stood up against the Patriot Act!

And I'm sure it was because of the flood of letters and emails they got that they felt confident that they could do so.

They are in the minority, so what they can do is limited. Given that, they are doing a great job, imho. Reid has been terrific!

[sandnsea]

19. 50% voted for Roberts

Don't know why you would use that 80% figure, unless you're calling people like Leahy and Feingold and Levin liars.

[savemefromdumbya]

10. Are they paying him to vote for Alito?

[Wordie]

12. Hey! He hasn't decided yet! Write him. Let him know why he should say NO!

[Hubert Flottz]

14. A vote for Alito is a vote to hand Bush absolute power.

Kent Conrad, do you want to contribute to America's becoming a dictatorship? Ask yourself if your job security is worth becoming branded forever as an enabler in the planned downfall of your country. Any democrat, or republican, who supports Bush's strong arm takeover of the judiciary branch of our government, is a betrayer of the Constitution and of the rule of law.

[freedomfries]

15. k & r

[Wordie]

25. I just read back over that. It's really good! eom

[babsbunny]

17. How about if we just say

Do what you want, and America will judge you accordingly! I'm tired of us having to beg these SOB's to do the right thing!

[garthranzz]

18. My email, for what it's worth

Dear Senator Conrad:

I am a Louisiana resident. My family and I have returned to New Orleans and, like so many, are rebuilding our lives and community. With all the pressures and difficulties we're facing, I still think it's important to be involved in national issues. In fact, it's more important than ever, since incompetence and negligence at the federal level caused and exacerbated the problems with the levees.

I have written to other Senators about the nomination of Mr. Alito, and now I'm taking the opportunity to convey my sentiments to you as well. Given the Bush Administration's propensity to increase - in some cases illegally - the power of the presidency, I think a Supreme Court judge's views on the limitations of Executive power are extremely important. Given his positions - both what he's stated and the questions he's avoided - it seems clear that Judge Alito favors an imperial presidency - just what the Founders feared.

I urge you to not only vote against Judge Alito's nomination, but to support a filibuster. From across the country I must tell you, your vote against confirmation will, ultimately, be a vote for the recovery of New Orleans, the Gulf Coast, and thus the country as a whole.

Sincerely,

[Wordie]

20. Excellent letter, garthranzz! eom

[Straight Shooter]

21. Excellent letter. Concise and reasoned.

I will use it as an outline for my own letter, drawing upon my own experience.

:thumbsup:

[Wordie]

22. kick

[Qanisqineq]

23. I'm a former constituent, I just emailed him

:kick:

[jsamuel]

24. done

Please filibuster Alito. Others have been trying to tell you otherwise because they know how important it is for Republicans to get this man into the Supreme Court for life. They know he will not challenge Presidential Powers. He will let any president be the sole power of government by giving up the checks and balances of our government. The constitution is invalid in this current president's eyes and Alito will not challenge him on that.

Alito will not uphold the constitution over the president's word and that would be the end of democracy in the US.

Please fight for those who voted for you, not those who wouldn't vote for you anyway.

Trying to appease the so-called "swing voters" only discourages those who will vote for you and doesn't give people who don't normally vote a reason to vote for you.

If you excite your base and give the others a REASON TO VOTE FOR YOU, you will not only uphold democratic principles and help the country, but will ensure your place in the US Senate.

[AzDar]

26. Done...will try just about anything at this point. n/t

[Wordie]

27. Conrad is to meet with Alito tomorrow! What questions should he ask???

Make sure to let him know what you think. We can't risk having Alito convince him somehow!

[Wordie]

28. Here are the critical questions!

We need to know where Alito would steer court

Judge Samuel Alito’s assurances in the Senate Judiciary hearings that the president is bound by the Constitution and that he (Alito) will only be bound by “the law” skirts several issues of just what the Constitution requires and which rules of law he would apply.

Rather, he should have been asked to respond to the following questions:

1. Does he accept the new “unitary executive” doctrine that the president has almost full power in interpreting what the president can do and cannot do? Or should the Supreme Court, as it determined in Marbury v. Madison (l803), remain the final arbiter on such issues?

2. In what kind of national emergencies may the president override constitutional guarantees to the rights of individuals in the body of the Constitution (the writ of habeas corpus) or the Bill of Rights (no searches without probable cause)?

If these guarantees are to be suspended under conditions of less than total war, is the president required to report to someone outside the court what he has done?

3. Do signing statements issued by the president provide legal grounds for his refusal to enforce specific provisions in the law? How can this policy be distinguished from the line-item veto, which the Supreme Court has already declared an unconstitutional delegation of legislative power?

President Bush claims authority on all the above issues. Some of Judge Alito’s earlier statements and rulings suggest that he accepts similar constitutional doctrines. If so, his appointment could consolidate the turn of the United States in a new authoritarian direction. If so, we should know it now.

BETTY GLAD

Olin Jenkins Professor of Political Science

University of South Carolina

Columbia

These are great questions. Email/fax/call them in to your senators!

[Wordie]

29. kick