In media battle over Roberts, GOP on top

So far, the White House appears to be ahead in the media battle to sell John Roberts's nomination to the US Supreme Court.

"The Bush administration did a very good job of introducing Roberts as a sensible, pragmatic, just-right-of-center fellow that just about anyone between the ideological 20-yard lines would be comfortable with," says Charlie Cook (no relation to the writer), editor of the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.

"Although opponents have been agitating and trying to drum up opposition and finding a smoking gun, the president's side has done better," concurs Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the Rothenberg Political Report, which provides nonpartisan political and election analysis.

The goal of whipping up a political base is straightforward: so that voters put pressure on members of the Senate to either support or oppose a nominee. One reason Republicans have done better in energizing their base for Judge Roberts is that "they have good material to work with," says Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics in Charlottesville.

"Fundamentally it comes down to the nominee," he says. "Is he or she qualified, is he or she talented, and [is he or she] in the mainstream? So far, the answers to all three questions are emphatically yes."

In fact, before Roberts's name was submitted, opposition groups had been "raising money and planning events, believing this would be another Robert Bork or Clarence Thomas," notes Dr. Sabato. "It turned out to be a whimper instead of a bang."

Of course, the dynamics could change. Both sides would put renewed attention on motivating their base if there is a major negative revelation hidden in documents about Roberts's government service. The White House is scheduled to release a flurry of additional papers Monday.

"It will take something massive in the records or in Roberts's background to make this nominee controversial, because he just isn't," says Sabato.

The White House dominance in the media battle over the nomination was reinforced last week. Roberts's opponents suffered a significant setback when the abortion-rights group NARAL Pro-Choice America was forced to withdraw a roundly criticized television ad accusing the nominee of an ideology that "leads him to excuse violence against other Americans." Critics say the ad mischaracterized an argument Roberts made to the Supreme Court in the case of Bray v. Alexandria Women's Health Clinic.

"The victory, of course, is not getting the ad off the air. The victory is reminding all the players and observers of this process who is on offense and who [is] on defense," wrote Mark Halperin, political editor of ABC News, in the network's daily political blog "The Note."

"It is embarrassing for NARAL and it makes it more difficult for other critics to attack Roberts," says Mr. Rothenberg. "Republican conservatives can dismiss it as, 'there they go again.' "

The ad controversy highlights an important advantage for President Bush: His party has lined up solidly behind Roberts. Meanwhile, Democrats appear to be still trying to figure out how to deal with the nomination of a smooth, personally appealing candidate with only a relatively brief record of judicial decisions.

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