[Mb-civic] Nuclear Option eve - phone #'s

[Mike Blaxill]

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/5/23/15942/3653

Roll Call:
With 44 Democrats and the lone Independent, Sen.
Jim Jeffords (Vt.), in Reid's corner, he needs to
peel away six Republicans to preserve the
minority's right to filibuster judicial
nominations. So far, just three GOP Senators --
Lincoln Chafee (R.I.), John McCain (Ariz.) and
Olympia Snowe (Maine) -- have publicly opposed
the maneuver.

That leaves a handful of potential `no' votes for
Reid to go after. He will need three of the five
to prevail over Frist.

And most prominent among the undecided Senators
are Armed Services Chairman Warner, who has taken
a lead role in trying to derail Frist's effort
and craft a compromise among centrists, and
Judiciary Chairman Specter, who has been the most
outspoken Senator pleading with Frist and Reid to
stand back from the brink of the nuclear showdown
[...]

In an interview with regional reporters from
targeted states Friday, Reid said he had a
private commitment from a fourth Republican to
oppose the nuclear option but declined to name
who that person was. He told the reporters that
he had four GOP targets remaining, of which two
will be needed to outflank Frist.

But Republicans have privately suspected that
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), a moderate who has
been actively engaged in the centrist talks,
would join her home-state colleague Snowe in
opposing the move.

The remaining GOP targets are Warner, Specter,
DeWine and Sen. Chuck Hagel (Neb.), according to
aides and liberal activists [...]

A few other Republicans remain outside prospects
for `no' votes, including Sens. Lindsey Graham
(S.C.) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska). Both have
participated in the centrist talks.

Murkowski's office said Friday she remains
undecided.

Graham, who is usually one of the most
media-friendly Senators, has literally ducked and
ran out of most centrist meetings. At one point
he took the time to give a one-word answer to how
the talks were going -- "Better" -- and then sped
away without taking any questions.

Reid has bought a 90-second ad this evening to
present the Democratic position to the American
people. It will air tonight as follows:

WRC (DC) 7:58 P.M.
WJLA (DC) 7:57 P.M.
WTTG (C) 7:57 P.M.
CNN 8:00 P.M.
CNNHN 8:00 P.M.
FoxNews 7:50-7:55 P.M.

Part of his message in the ad:
Unfortunately, some Senate Republicans are trying
to give President Bush power no president has
ever had -- the ability to personally hand out
lifetime jobs to judges -- including the Supreme
Court, without consensus from the other party.
This abuse of power is not what our founders
intended. It's wrong for one political party --
be it Republicans today or Democrats tomorrow --
to have total control over who sits on our high
courts and rules on our most basic rights.

As for the key undecideds:
Arlen Specter: (Pennsylvania)
DC Office: 
202-224-4254

Philadelphia Office:
215-597-7200

Pittsburgh Office:
412-644-3400

John Warner: (Virginia)
DC Office:
(202) 224-2023

Richmond Office: 
(804) 739-0247

Norfolk Office: 
(757) 441-3079

Mike Dewine: (Ohio)
DC Office:
(202) 224-2315

Cleveland office:
(216) 522-7272

Columbus office:
(614) 469-5186

Chuck Hagel: (Nebraska)
DC Office:
(202) 224-4224

Omaha Office:
(402) 758-8981
Remember, be courteous. And ideally, calls should
come from constituents.