Right Side of the Rainbow

Associated Press:

WASHINGTON — An abortion rights group on Friday launched a new television ad criticizing Supreme Court nominee John Roberts, two weeks after pulling a heavily criticized commercial that linked him to violent anti-abortion activists.

The new ad “paints a really clear and unambiguous picture of John Roberts’ record and it keeps the public debate focused on the threats that he poses to our freedom,” said Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America.

[…]

The new ad, featuring smiling families and an American flag in the background, emphasizes a phrase in a 1981 Roberts memos: the “so-called right to privacy,” and points out that he co-wrote a government memo saying the landmark Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion was wrongly decided.

“There’s just too much at stake to let John Roberts become a decisive vote on the Supreme Court,” the ad says.

Of course, anybody who can count knows John Roberts’ vote will not be decisive, at least not when it comes to Roe. Even if you assume that Justice Roberts would vote to overrule Roe — something I believe to be far from certain — you’d still have only four votes for that position (Roberts, Rehnquist, Scalia and Thomas). Quite obviously, that’s not a majority on a nine-member court.

Meanwhile …

Supporters of President Bush and his Supreme Court nominee, Judge John Roberts, have outspent opponents on television advertising at a pace of nearly 8 to 1 ($1,274,025 to $165,114) since Roberts was nominated on July 19.

Well, maybe. If the opponents count their pennies with the same precision with which they count votes, who can say how much money they’ve spent?