...In tossup states, certainly for Senate races, revulsion at Democratic obstruction can tip the vote in the GOP's favor--as in 2002, when the strategy of raising the judiciary clearly succeeded. Senate Republican polling indicates that the 2002 fight over Mr. Pickering brought judicial nominations into the top three Democratic negatives. The judicial debate has remained high among the negatives ever since. The same polling indicates that in close contests in Georgia (Saxby Chambliss), Missouri (Jim Talent), Colorado (Wayne Allard), Texas (John Cornyn) and Minnesota (Norm Coleman), judicial issues motivated conservative base voters, as well as swing moderates, into the GOP column, thereby returning the Senate majority to Republicans.

In June 2003, the Committee for Justice commissioned a poll of Hispanics nationwide, a plurality of whom were Democrats: 33% knew of Mr. Estrada and the battle over his nomination, extremely high awareness for an appellate nominee. When told of his story and qualifications, 87% believed he deserved an up-or-down vote in the Senate. Sen. Allard has said that when he reached out to Hispanics in his state in 2002, he talked about just two issues: tax cuts and Miguel Estrada. On Election Day, Sen. Allard's support among Hispanics had improved by 25%, contributing to his tight margin of victory. This year, Republicans should remind Hispanics of Mr. Estrada--opposed by Democrats "because he is Latino, and the White House seems to be grooming him for a Supreme Court appointment."

While the history of Democratic tactics on Judge Pickering and Mr. Estrada may be enough to drive Southern and Hispanic votes, the other part of the argument is substantive. A survey of Catholics summarizes trends that likely reflect attitudes in many other groups: that the courts are too liberal and Republicans are more likely to appoint more mainstream judges. According to the August poll by QEV Analytics, Catholics agreed by a margin of 54% to 39% that " 'liberal federal judges' threaten traditional American values." Bush-voting Catholics agreed by a margin of 75% to 21%. Of greater import, a margin of 55% to 37% of swing voters identifies liberal judges as a danger; and by 45% to 39%, respondents said President Bush was "more likely to appoint federal judges who share your values." This margin could be wider, with a little work...