Contact: Natalia Kennedy of the Brennan Center for Justice, 212-998-6736 Jesse Rutledge of Justice at Stake, 202-588-9454

WASHINGTON, August 26 /U.S. Newswire/ -- 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. This reverses the trend before the nomination was announced, when the Administration's critics narrowly outspent its supporters ($200,466 to $120,591). From January 1 through August 21, interest groups have spent an estimated $1.77 million on ads meant to influence selection and confirmation of a nominee. The figures come from the first in a series of reports being released by the Brennan Center for Justice and Justice at Stake.

Virtually all of the money spent by supporters came from the conservative Progress for America, which has spent just under $1.4 million on ads this year in an effort to build support for President Bush's choice to the U.S. high court. To date, most of Progress for America's advertising has appeared on national cable networks, seen by viewers in all 50 states, and the vast majority of its spending - over $1,273,965 of its $1,394,556 million in TV airtime buys - has appeared since Judge Roberts was nominated.

"Since the nomination, television viewers in most states had been getting only one side of the debate," said Deborah Goldberg, Democracy Program Director at the Brennan Center. "But, just this week, a number of liberal groups formally announced their opposition to the nomination, so things may be about to change."

"Most of the ad money to date has been spent to provide a positive definition of Judge Roberts, which is traditional in the opening weeks of a campaign," said Bert Brandenburg, Executive Director of the Justice at Stake Campaign. "Until this point, most potential opponents of Judge Roberts have been urging Congress and the country not to rush to judgment."

Progress for America has run three ads:

-- a spot before the nomination was made, arguing that "Democrats will attack anyone the president nominates"

-- a spot praising Judge Roberts, arguing "Shouldn't a fair judge be treated fairly?"

-- a spot saying "A far left Democratic group is making a desperate and false attack recklessly distorting Judge Roberts' record"

As of August 21, only one group-NARAL-had aired spots opposing Judge Roberts outright. The NARAL ad, which aired in Maine, Rhode Island and Washington, DC, said Roberts "filed court briefs supporting violent fringe groups and a convicted clinic bomber."

Another group, IndependentCourt.org, ran a handful of ads on cable television attacking the Bush administration for "withholding important documents from Senators. We need the facts. Before the Senate votes to give John Roberts a lifetime appointment."

Two groups critical of President Bush ran ads before he announced the nomination:

-- MoveOn ran ads in early July-in Maine, Nebraska, South Carolina and Virginia- saying, "Will George Bush choose an extremist, who will threaten our rights and support even more government intrusion into our lives?"

-- People for the American Way ran a spot in early July -- in Washington, DC -- asking if the President's legacy would be "choosing a judge who protects our fundamental rights and freedoms, or will he divide the country, trying to force through a judge, who threatens our basic rights as Americans?" Tables providing data analysis are attached to this release.

Storyboard and streaming video, as well as an explanation of the methodology used to compile this report, will be available online at brennancenter.org and justiceatstake.org as of Monday, August 29, 2005. Charts and data are available immediately, upon request.

The Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law and the Justice at Stake Campaign are teaming up to provide regular snapshots of the television advertising campaigns related to the confirmation of Judge John Roberts to the U.S. Supreme Court. The groups regularly collaborate on analyses of interest group advertising in state Supreme Court elections. The data for the project is gathered by TNS-Media Intelligence/CMAG, which tracks advertising in the nation's top 100 Designated Market Areas and on national cable television.

http://www.usnewswire.com/

/© 2005 U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770/

Commentary:
The next time you hear Fox say liberals are outspending right wing nuts ,write to them and tell them to stop lying. It won't help but it'll make you feel better.

The sad part of it is there's only one side left in most of our most important debates--the republican side. I think it was Truman who once said something like 'if you give Americans a choice between voting for a republican and a republican, they vote for a republican.'

Does anyone wonder why the democrats party is so worthless these days? It's called money and getting your message out.

Ms. Sheehan spent very little money (almost nothing) to get her message out. But first you have to have a message. Democrats need to fight back. What they can do is give Bush Roberts in exchange for a liberal to fill the other position on the Court. There are no liberals on the court now and if democrats can't argue we need ONE they should close up shop and go home.

Of course the media will never suggest a liberal nominee. Why should they? It's not their job to be "fair and balanced."