Alito

Celeste Calvitto in today's Rapid City Journal:

After an all-too-short respite over the holidays, the battle of the news releases about Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito began anew last week in anticipation of his confirmation hearings, which began Monday.

In South Dakota, Progress for America had another conference call for reporters, this one featuring two law clerks who worked for Alito during his service on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. In November, the conservative organization, which has an ad campaign in support of Alito, lined up four Republican state lawmakers and lawyers to speak on his behalf.

In response to Progress for America’s latest media call, Steve Hildebrand, former campaign manager for Sen. Tom Daschle, a Democrat, e-mailed a notice that lawyer and former South Dakota lawmaker Scott Heidepriem would be available for comment.

The law clerks at the Progress for America event were John and Hannah Smith, a husband-and-wife team who worked for Alito for a year. Hannah Smith was also a law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

Read the whole thing.