Will Senate Dems attack Judge Amy Coney Barrett's faith again?

The nomination of Amy Coney Barrett is why many people voted for Donald Trump in 2016.

With about 300 Trump judicial appointees confirmed by the U.S. Senate in his first term, including two Supreme Court nominees, putting judges on the federal bench is one of the president's greatest accomplishments. It's also one that will have the longest impact.

Adding a third Supreme Court justice, particularly one that could help reshape the balance of the court, is monumental.

Ed Martin, president of the conservative Phyllis Schlafly Eagles, told me recently that judges was one of two topics he and the late Phyllis Schlafly addressed with then-candidate Donald Trump leading up to the 2016 election.

"She said to him," Martin recalled Schlafly telling candidate Trump, 'I really want to ask you to appoint judges like Justice Scalia and Justice Thomas.'"

Trump assured Schlafly and Martin he would. Soon after the meeting he released an initial list of possible justices.

Martin said the contrast between the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Judge Barrett couldn't be more stark.

Ed MartinAssociated Press

Democrats will likely go after Barrett on the issue of abortion, using her Catholic faith against her. In Barrett's confirmation hearing for the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, Sen. Dianne Feinstein made the notorious statement, "The dogma lives loudly within you."

"The one bigotry that's acceptable in this country right now is anti-Catholic bigotry," Martin, who is also Catholic, told me. "So what Dianne Feinstein said, what Kamala Harris said, what Chuck Schumer and Dick Durbin said about Catholics shouldn't be tolerated. It should be denounced."

Martin has written to several Democrats in the Senate on the issue. It's something that could backfire on them in the election if they continue with this line of attack on the judge's faith.

"There's nothing about your faith that does anything except inform how you live, not how you be a judge," Martin said. "That's what the left wants to believe. But it's just real bigotry."

Meanwhile, liberal judges with a record of activism get a pass.

"You know, one of the reasons it's so important, is people tend to forget in the last five years, especially because the media has made RBG into this sort of benign, old lady who exercises," Martin said. "But Ruth Bader Ginsburg was at the ACLU in the '70s. And she was engineering the pro-abortion efforts in the courts."

Sen. Josh Hawley has said he intends to ask Judge Barrett if she believes Roe was wrongly decided. Martin said he's doesn't believe a litmus test is necessary, but it's a fair question to ask.

"Again, Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote about Roe v. Wade, she advocated about Roe v. Wade before she went on the bench. That's not a disqualifier. In fact, it's a description of how you do the job."

Martin said Schlafly believed judges should know the Constitution and "its role in our life as a limited document."

"It protects us, but it's not meant to grow into something that becomes a policy, kind of legislative arm," he said.

Some people, including the president, have suggested if Joe Biden wins the election he would be pressured by the left in his party to pack the Supreme Court and reshape the balance of the court. Martin is certainly concerned about the possibility of packing the court, but he added it's likely to be more difficult than some believe.

"I think it would be very difficult. You know, when FDR did that -- he tried to pack the court. He thought he had the votes and the numbers, and I think he didn't have the people. And so I don't know that I think Biden would be pressured to do it by his caucus."

Martin said Josh Hawley, who was also listed on the president's recent list possible Supreme Court nominees, will certainly play an important role in confirmation. But so will Sen. Roy Blunt, who Martin said is widely respected when it comes to appointments.

"He sort of manages his influence behind the scenes. And he's just well liked by everybody," Martin said. "He works really well. And when you have that kind of position, you're the one who's helping get things done. And Trump has gotten a lot of things done. Mitch McConnell's been masterful, too. I don't mean to take away from that. But from Missourians' perspective, Roy has been masterful at helping get judges through. And not just in Missouri, but across the country and helping Trump succeed on this question."

Democrats will have a difficult task in this confirmation hearing. I expect not only a vigorous confirmation process -- which I certainly don't mind and would welcome -- but unfortunately it's likely to be one filled with cheap shots and an attack on Judge Barrett's faith. They've done it before on this nominee and they'll likely do it again. But there's also a political risk of doing so. If voters perceive Democrats taking cheap shots, they do so at their own electoral peril similar to the 2018 Senate midterms. Will history repeat itself?

Lucas Presson is assistant publisher of the Southeast Missourian.