E-Mail from Senator Obama

[Bjornsdotter]

Just received it, so I thought I'd pass it on.

Cheers!

Dear XXXXX:

Thank you for advising me of your view of the nomination of Judge Samuel Alito to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor on the U.S. Supreme Court. I appreciate hearing from you.

The Constitution gives the Senate the special responsibility of "advice and consent" on appointments to the federal bench. As in the case of Chief Justice Roberts, my bottom line in evaluating the Alito nomination will be whether I have confidence that he will respect the constitutionally protected rights of individuals and resist the temptation to substitute personal ideology for legal reasoning.

While I look forward to getting a more complete picture of Judge Alito's judicial philosophy now that hearings are underway, I am concerned about some of the initial information we have received on his views. The significance of those concerns are especially important because Judge Alito has been tapped to replace Justice O'Connor, who was considered the swing vote on the Supreme Court. I can assure you that fact is not lost on me.

Again, thank you for contacting me on this significant matter. Please continue to stay in touch as the confirmation process develops.

Sincerely,

Barack Obama
United States Senator

[B Calm]

1. Well, at least he never said he was going to vote for him.. but

then he didn't say that he would vote against him either......

[stray cat]

2. Process if not over yet - but Obama is clearly not happy

[gordianot]

3. He will be as good on the Supreme Court as Condi is Secretary of State!

[fujiyama]

4. I doubt he'll vote for him

.

[Benhurst]

5. Surely not. If he does,

this is one Illinois native who contributed to his campaign who will never do so again. Condi was a hard enough pill to swallow. Surely he won't vote for Alito.

[petersjo02]

6. Response to communication with Rep. Jim Leach, IA

Since this is sort of on topic, being about a response from a rep or senator, and being I can't post my own thread yet, I'm going to add this gem. A couple days ago I got an e-mail from impeachbush.org about sending something to our reps about investigating Bush admin for possible charges of impeachment. The short letter I sent to Jim Leach consisted of impeachbush.org's suggested text, and I added an extra sentence stating that my husband and I are very frightened about the direction our country is heading and concerned about what will be left for our children and grandchildren. That was the sum and substance of it--very polite, no snarky remarks at all.

Yesterday got a response from Leach (or some flunky in his office) saying that based on the "tone" of my letter it would be a waste of time to respond. End of message. I spent several hours last night writing a lengthy response to Leach's response saying I didn't appreciate being blown off because of his perception of my "tone." I listed numerous points that I wanted him to address, among them lying us into war, warrantless searches, Abramoff, lack of Congressional oversight on the executive branch, investigating who leakers are instead of addressing the illegal activities exposed, arresting and jailing people without charges or access to due process, etc. Told him I wanted to know his stand on these issues. Letter got long. I ended it by telling him to set partisan politics aside and put our country first and to not demean and blow off his constituents. Also told him it is time to speak the truth although that doesn't seem to be the politically correct thing to do in Washington. Will be interesting to see what, if any, response comes of it.

Thanks for tolerating an interloper post. I'm at your mercy here for a while.

[madrchsod]

9. i take it you`re in iowa?

it does help around here if you fill out the rest of your info and you don`t have to be that specific on where you live and your name. check mine and you`ll get the idea remember to check into the iowa forum. my mom and dad grew up in iowa and for years it was two or three trips each year to western iowa.
welcome to du

[petersjo02]

11. Fixed

Thought I had filled out that info already. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. Adopted our dog from a shelter in Milan, IL.

[Bjornsdotter]

12. The response you received

...was terrible. Now hand out copies to everyone you know who supports him.
:evilgrin:

Welcome to DU!

Cheers!

[Benhurst]

13. Welcome to DU!

:hi:

[sandnsea]

14. Uhm, get that to your newspaper

No staffer should EVER refuse to respond to a constituent's letter because of its "tone". Unless, of course, the entire content was "go fuck yourself dirtbag". But a well thought out letter should ALWAYS receive a respectful response. If you've got an email or letter, take it to your newspaper and tell them how shocked you are. This is the kind of thing that can sink a candidate, arrogance and disconnected from the voters in the district. Party doesn't matter with this kind of thing, it upsets all except the most extreme voter.

[IA_Seth]

15. Welcome to DU.

Like the other poster says, please check out the Iowa forum. We are pretty active and would enjoy another Iowan's point of view!

[mohinoaklawnillinois]

7. I don't think Barack is going vote for Alito.

He knows too much about constitutional law. After all didn't he teach it at the University of Chicago law school.

I could be wrong but us Illinoisans can pretty much count on two no votes for Alito from Sens. Durbin and Obama.

[yodermon]

8. "I can assure you that fact is not lost on me."

gee can you understate it a little more, barack?

[DavidDvorkin]

10. "The significance of those concerns are especially important"

Ouch. His office needs a good proofreader.