Washington — Leading Democrats and key interest groups intend to build a case against John G. Roberts' nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court by highlighting his past stands on civil rights and women's issues and downplaying more divisive topics such as abortion and school prayer.
When confirmation hearings begin Sept. 6, Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee will concentrate on Roberts' writings that shed light on his views of affirmative action, voting rights, pay equity and discrimination, aides and activists said.
That focus has evolved over the past several weeks, even though the most vocal opposition to Roberts has come from supporters of abortion rights. Senate Democratic aides and strategists said Democrats had more to gain by portraying Roberts as outside the mainstream on broad questions of fairness than on a polarizing subject such as abortion. Even if they can't defeat Roberts, they hope to define his conservative values in ways that will hurt Republicans and help Democrats in the 2006 congressional elections.
The decision also takes into account the politics of the Supreme Court. In 2003 the court split 5-4 in upholding race preferences in admissions at the University of Michigan Law School, with departing Justice Sandra Day O'Connor casting the crucial swing vote. Roberts, who equated affirmative action to racial quotas as a Reagan administration lawyer, could alter that balance.
On abortion, however, the landmark case of Roe v. Wade, which established a woman's right to abortion, would have majority support in the court even after O'Connor's departure.
Politically, Democrats said, issues such as civil rights and gender equality are likely to resonate broadly and appeal to more Democratic constituencies, such as African-American voters and women. President Bush won 48 percent of female voters last year, improving his share by 5 points over 2000. Though his gains with blacks were more modest, Republican National Committee Chairman Mark Mehlman has made a point of reaching out to African-Americans this year.
"Given the revelations that are coming out about Roberts from these documents, it does beg the question as to whether the White House is sincere in its efforts to reach out to minorities and other groups," said Phil Singer, spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the campaign arm of Senate Democrats.
In an orchestrated move, Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., Democratic Chairman Howard Dean and several liberal interest groups called Friday for the White House to release documents from Roberts' tenure as deputy solicitor general during the presidency of President Bush's father. The White House already has released thousands of pages of documents from Roberts' service as a lawyer in the Reagan White House and Justice Department.
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