Subject: Today from the Constitutional Responsibility Project
From: Natalie Raps <[email-masked]>
To: Natalie Raps <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 3 May 2016 22:23:51 +0000

Today in the call for a full Supreme Court bench: The Constitutional Responsibility Project releases its second TV ad showcasing Sen. Rob Portman's (R-OH) obstruction, Americans United for Change continues its nine-state, nine-day mobile billboard tour in Pennsylvania, 225 former Sen. Grassley supporters share their stories with MoveOn.org as to why they cannot support his inaction around Chief Judge Garland's nomination, and editorial boards continue to blast Senate Republicans for creating political gridlock around judicial nominations.

The Constitutional Responsibility Project releases second TV ad highlighting Sen. Portman's refusal to do his job and give Chief Judge Merrick Garland fair hearings and a timely vote.

Today, the Constitutional Responsibility Project released a 30-second ad<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIjQ_SUNdb4&feature=youtu.be> highlighting Sen. Rob Portman's (R-OH) refusal to allow Chief Judge Garland - a nominee with broad bipartisan support and the most federal judicial experience in recent history - a fair hearing and an up-or-down vote. The ad will air in the Columbus and Cincinnati media markets over the Senate recess.
Today's ad comes days after the Constitutional Responsibility Project released a new survey<http://weneednine.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Ohio-Poll-Key-Findings-4.15.16-2.pdf> of Ohio voters, conducted by Hart Research Associates. Key findings include:

*                 70 percent of Ohioans do not know where Sen. Rob Portman stands on Merrick Garland's nomination. When told that Senator Portman supports the Republican leadership's refusal to consider any Supreme Court nominee, 59% of all voters express an unfavorable opinion, compared with just 36% who are favorable.

*                 As Ohio voters hear of Rob Portman's decision to follow his party leaders in opposing a hearing for Merrick Garland, two in five of Portman's own voters are unfavorable to his actions, as are two-thirds of all swing voters.

*                 Once voters learned about Merrick Garland and his background, 80 percent of Democrats, 62 percent of independents, and 32 percent of Republicans favor Garland's confirmation.

*                 Once Ohio voters learned about Sen. Portman's decision to oppose a hearing for Merrick Garland, 48 percent of Ohio voters are less likely to support Sen. Portman, while 52 percent of independent voters are less likely to want him re-elected

o   This potentially puts 15 percent of the Ohio electorate in play this November as possible new voters for Democratic challenger, Ted Strickland.
Former Grassley voters: You lost our respect and our votes.
Today, more than 225 former Sen. Grassley supporters shared their stories with MoveOn.org to express their frustration over his failure to uphold Iowa values during Chief Judge Garland's nomination. Comments from Iowa constituents and former supporters can be seen HERE<https://www.facebook.com/moveon/videos/10153438388940493/>.

The campaign also includes a new billboard featuring former Grassley supporters located on Fleur Drive near the Des Moines airport with the message: "Senator Grassley: You Lost Our Respect and Votes by Playing Politics with the Supreme Court."

Kenneth Blackledge, Iowa produce farmer and former Grassley voter: "Blocking this nomination is purely political, I'm so disappointed. I want him to be the old Chuck again. I want him to get away from party politics and be the independent senator I used to admire."

Jack Lehmkuhl, Cedar Rapids, IA: "I feel betrayed by Sen. Grassley, who my family has strongly supported since his very first election, I volunteered for Sen. Grassley to help get him elected even before I could vote. But now he's lost my respect and my vote."

Jo Comerford, MoveOn.org Political Action campaign director: "Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley has become the national face of Republican obstruction of President Obama's Supreme Court nominee, Judge Merrick Garland... Iowans know that the stakes are simply too high to let partisan politics force a continued vacancy on the nation's highest court." [MoveOn.org Press Release]

9-9-9 Tour Stops In Pennsylvania: 9 States in 9 Days for 9 Supreme Court Justices.
The Americans United for Change nine-state, nine-day mobile billboard tour recently stopped in Harrisburg and Philadelphia, PA. The message to Senator Toomey was simple: Do Your Job and Fill the Vacant Seat on the Supreme Court, or Someone Else Will Fill Yours.  *See digital billboard graphic designs HERE<http://www.americansunitedforchange.org/page/content/999Tour/>.  The stops were joined by local leaders including Cole Goodman, Susquehanna Township School Board Member; Lisa M. Benzie, Attorney; Adam C. Bonin, Attorney, Election and Constitutional Law Expert; Sam Dorso, Co-Chair, Philly for Change; Ann Warneka, Registered Nurse.

Aletheia Henry, PA State Director, Americans United for Change: "Hardworking Pennsylvania families that pay Senator Toomey's salary don't get to pick and choose which parts of their jobs they want to do and forget the rest... Tellingly, Republicans like Senator Toomey, who've actually bothered to meet with Judge Garland still can't muster one good reason why he doesn't deserve a fair hearing or to otherwise disqualify him from consideration....When you look at the wealth of polling showing Independent voters are especially unimpressed with their plan to sabotage the nomination process, it's quickly becoming a question not whether Republicans will lose their Senate Majority, but by how wide a margin." [Americans United for Change Press Release]

Sen. Grassley is making a bad bet on the Supreme Court.
Jon Alexander of the Quad-City Times<http://qctimes.com/news/opinion/editorial/columnists/jon-alexander/alexander-obama-laughed-as-grassley-gambled/article_66d68dc3-8c18-5361-94dc-cc5dfe4a370a.html> editorial board takes a look at the political gamble Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) is making on Chief Judge Garland's nomination:

"Refusing to convene even a kangaroo court is, one some ways, unprecedented. And the maneuver is a risk on several fronts. It could energize Democrats in November. It could further handicap Senate Republicans already facing a tough year, just ask Mark Kirk. It very well could result in President Hillary Clinton sending a significantly more liberal nominee to a Democratic Senate for a seat that would otherwise be filled by the centrist Garland. And then, there's the Trump factor... Grassley's bid to save a vacant Supreme Court seat for a man without clear policy is tantamount to wagering with house money."

Sen. Burr's obstruction of the nation's longest-running federal vacancy is an "election season stunt."
With Republican Senators refusing to do their job by not considering Chief Judge Garland and other judges awaiting Senate confirmation, two North Carolina editorial boards call out Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) for refusing to do his job on the nomination of Patricia Timmons-Goodson, who has been nominated to fill a vacancy in the U.S. Eastern District of North Carolina-a post that has gone unfilled since 2006.

"Burr's opposition is unfair to Timmons-Goodson personally and unfair to the system running short of federal judges... The Senate's job in reviewing the president's nominees is to advise and consent, not to pout and obstruct. That behavior is especially out of line when it comes to qualified nominees to the federal bench. It has been a long-standing custom that even when senators are philosophically different in terms of their views of the judiciary from the president, they recognize his right to place his choices on the judiciary."[News & Observer, 5/02/16<http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/editorials/article75222132.html>]

"The Supreme Court stonewall is itself an election season stunt, as Senate Republicans have invented a practice of not allowing a president to fill a high-court vacancy in the last year of his term... Burr should reconsider and support her confirmation, or else there may be political consequences for his recent pattern of obstructionism."[Greensboro News & Record, 5/03/16<http://www.greensboro.com/opinion/n_and_r_editorials/our-opinion-a-burr-blockade/article_10750f2c-c983-5ea2-b64a-c38519e94528.html>]

Is Sen. Grassley doing his job? [Spoiler Alert] No.
Check out IsChuckGrassleyDoingHisJob.com<http://ischuckgrassleydoinghisjob.com/> from Why Courts Matter Iowa for updates.

Chris Schwartz, state director of Americans for Democratic Action - Iowa and Why Courts Matter Iowa coalition member: "Iowans are frustrated with Senator Grassley's unprecedented obstruction and deserve to know whether he's doing his job."

A look ahead at a sampling of activity by our grassroots allies:

WEDNESDAY 5/04/16

Event: Hispanic National Bar Association media call to Announce Official Recommendation on Supreme Court Nominee Judge Merrick Garland
Time: 10:30AM ET
Host: HNBA
Key briefers/speakers: Robert T. Maldonado, National President, Hispanic National Bar Association; Robert Raben, Chair, HNBA Judiciary Committee; Maria Dantes Sanchez, Member, HNBA Judiciary Committee & HNBA Regional President for Region VIII (Florida)
Call-in information: 877 876 9171, Conference ID: SCOTUS
Press Contact: Daniel Herrera, [email-masked]<mailto:[email-masked]>, (202) 930-6805

Event: Tucson #DoYourJob Event
Location: Tucson, AZ
Host: Americans United for Change
Press Contact: Rodd McCleod, 347-387-1010, [email-masked]<mailto:[email-masked]>

Event: Asheville #DoYourJob Event
Location: Ashville, NC
Time: 5PM local time
Host: Americans United for Change
Press Contact: Gerrick Brenner, 919-452-2248, [email-masked]<mailto:[email-masked]>

Event: Charlotte #DoYourJob Event
Location: Charlotte, NC
Time: 12PM local time
Host: Americans United for Change
Press Contact: Gerrick Brenner, 919-452-2248, [email-masked]<mailto:[email-masked]>

Event: St. Louis #DoYourJob Event
Location: Outside of Senator Blunt's St. Louis Office, 7700 Bonhomme, Clayton, MO 63105
Host: Americans United for Change
Press Contact: Martin Casas, [email-masked]<mailto:[email-masked]>

Event: Jefferson City #DoYourJob Event
Location: Missouri State Capitol, 201 W Capitol Ave, Jefferson City, MO 65101
Host: Americans United for Change
Press Contact: Martin Casas, [email-masked]<mailto:[email-masked]>

Event: Portsmouth #DoYourJob event
Location: Sen. Ayotte's Office, 14 Manchester Square, Ste 140
Portsmouth, NH 03801
Time: 12PM local time
Host: Americans United for Change
Press Contact: Liz Purdy, 603-731-2200, [email-masked]<mailto:[email-masked]>

Event: Des Moines #DoYourJob event
Location: Sen. Grassley's Office, 210 Walnut St #721, Des Moines, IA 50309
Time: 12PM local time
Host: Americans United for Change
Press Contact: Derek Eadon, 515-954-8630, [email-masked]<mailto:[email-masked]>

THURSDAY 5/05/16

Event: Dayton #DoYourJob event
Location: RTA Cultural Center , 40 S Edwin C Moses Blvd, Dayton, OH 45402
Time: 2PM local time
Host: OEA/WeNeedNine
Press Contact: Joanne Pickrell, 614-364-1442, [email-masked]<mailto:[email-masked]>

Event: Greensboro #DoYourJob event
Location: Outside Old Guilford County Courthouse, Greensboro, NC 27401
Time: 12PM local time
Host: Americans United for Change
Press Contact: Gerrick Brenner, 919-452-2248, [email-masked]<mailto:[email-masked]>

Event: Phoenix #DoYourJob event
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Host: Americans United for Change
Press Contact: Rodd McCleod, 347-387-1010, [email-masked]<mailto:[email-masked]>

Event: #DoYourJob NH Coalition recess protest
Location: Sen. Ayotte's Manchester Office, 1200 Elm Street, Suite 2
Manchester, NH 03101-2503
Time: 12PM local time
Press Contact: Liz Purdy, 603-731-2200, [email-masked]<mailto:[email-masked]>

Event: Youngstown #DoYourJob event with Rep. Tim Ryan
Location: Youngstown, OH
Host: Americans United for Change
Press Contact: Joanne Pickrell, 614-364-1442, [email-masked]<mailto:[email-masked]>

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