Lindsey Graham Under Attack Over Judges
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No longer content with bashing Democrats for their obstruction of President Bush’s judicial nominees, a coalition of conservative groups is now turning its attention to a prominent Republican – Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.
The campaign, led by the Committee for Justice, is aimed at persuading Mr. Graham to allow a vote on William James Haynes II, the general counsel at the Department of Defense and a nominee for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit. Although the campaign is in its infancy, organizers expect it to develop into a national e-mail and telephone lobbying effort.
“A key reason why Lindsey Graham is Senator Graham is because he ran as opposed to the obstruction of the president’s judicial nominees,” the executive director of the Committee for Justice, Sean Rushton, said. “We hope he’ll remember that.”
Mr. Graham insists he has engaged in no formal obstruction of Mr. Haynes, nor has he enlisted other senators to do so. Along with colleague and political ally Senator McCain, a Republican of Arizona, Mr. Graham has expressed concern regarding the advice Mr. Haynes provided the Bush administration on the treatment of detainees captured in the war on terrorism.
“The role Mr. Haynes played as DOD general counsel formulating these policies and whether he was receptive to legal advice from the military will be a line of inquiry when his nomination is brought up,” the communications director for Mr. Graham, Kevin Bishop, said.
Mr. Haynes was nominated in 2003.
Opposing conservatives on one of their pet issues carries political risks for both Messrs. Graham and McCain. Since winning the seat vacated by the late Senator Thurmond in 2002, Mr. Graham has faced occasional opposition from his party’s base, a resistance that hardened when he joined a bipartisan group of senators – the “Gang of 14” – to defuse a showdown on judicial nominees.
Charleston developer Thomas Ravenel, who narrowly lost a bid for the GOP Senate nomination in 2004, has encouraged speculation that he might mount a primary challenge to Mr. Graham in 2008 but is seeking state office in 2006.
Mr. McCain, who has made clear his intentions to run for president in 2008, has openly courted conservatives over the past year in an attempt to heal rifts caused by his primary challenge to George W. Bush in 2000. That effort has met with considerable success to date, progress that could be jeopardized by another high-profile battle over judicial nominations.
