Proponents and opponents of the judge have been ramping up their Alito campaigns in preparation for the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings Jan. 9.
On Thursday, the 42 House members of the Congressional Black Caucus and the National Women's Law Center came out against Alito. And this week, according to Nancy Zirkin, deputy director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, a large cross section of other national civil rights groups will be following suit.
Alito's supporters - organizations such as Focus on the Family, Progress for America, Family Research Council, Committee for Justice and the Judicial Confirmation Network - have been setting up offices in key states to lobby certain senators and running television, radio and newspaper ads.
Alito's opponents say they know that they cannot outspend his supporters, so they are relying on their ability to organize on a grassroots level. They hope to put constituent pressure on the senators.
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