Ahead of his speech, McCain sent a letter to the Federalist Society, an influential conservative group.

CNN: Cheers, boos for McCain at conservative gathering

The Intercollegiate Studies Institute, the Young America's Foundation and the Federalist Society are out organising.

ECONOMIST: A youthquake that is helping George Bush

The libertarian Federalist Society laid the intellectual groundwork, and the Roberts Supreme Court is the culmination of those efforts.

FORBES: Progressives Wrestle With A Tough Sales Pitch

Karen is president of the Orange County Federalist Society lawyer chapter and sits on the Federalist Society International Law Executive Committee.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Center For Security Policy

In February 2005, just after Mr. Bush's second inauguration, the Federalist Society and The Wall Street Journal conducted a survey in which scholars were asked to rank the presidents.

WSJ: James Taranto: The Difference Between 43 and 44? Not So Much

And according to a panel of experts gathered here Wednesday at a forum sponsored by the Federalist Society, the number of class-action cases filed in state courts has dropped off dramatically.

FORBES: Class-Action Law Gums Up Courts

Thiel, who was in law school at the time, was also the president of the Stanford Federalist Society and the founder of the Stanford Review, a more highbrow, less bad-boy version of the notoriously incendiary Dartmouth Review.

NEWYORKER: No Death, No Taxes

Olson's groping for a case to establish federal jurisdiction over the Florida election was a bit rich, since he is a leading member of the Federalist Society, the conservative group that is highly protective of the rights reserved to the states by the Constitution.

CNN: May It Please The Court

Guided by his old friend Ted Olson, who is now in private law practice, Giuliani assembled a Justice Advisory Committee that included Steven Calabresi, one of the founders of the Federalist Society, and Miguel Estrada, whose nomination to the federal bench in 2001 was filibustered by Democrats for more than two years, before he finally withdrew.

NEWYORKER: Mayberry Man