Word: alito
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Democrats can be forgiven for appearing a bit downcast in the days following the introduction of Bush's newest nominee, Federal Appeals Court Judge Samuel Alito Jr., 55. The Princeton and Yale Law--educated career public servant may have the most solid conservative judicial record of any Supreme Court nominee since Bork. It's more than enough to satisfy most Republicans looking for as close to a sure thing as possible on hot-button issues like abortion, the death penalty and the roles of religion and race in American society. But like John Roberts, the Bush Supreme Court nominee...
...fact that so many in the legal community, on both sides of the political aisle, laud Alito as a serious, fair legal thinker not given to overarching theories or ideological tantrums is bad enough for the Democrats. And his record of protecting freedom of expression doesn't help matters. Also, it's pretty hard to demonize a man who regularly donned a uniform when coaching Little League and once spent a week of vacation at the Philadelphia Phillies fantasy baseball camp. The White House, says Democratic strategist Joel Johnson, "has accomplished the task of getting beyond the base problem...
That doesn't mean some sort of battle won't be waged, especially now that both sides have two months before Alito's confirmation hearings begin in early January. On the contrary. Far from a stealth candidate like Miers, who only a month ago was being praised by Bush for not being from the "judicial monastery," Alito has "more prior judicial experience than any Supreme Court nominee in more than 70 years," as the President noted. Alito's voluminous record, including some 300 opinions, offers a wealth of material for both sides to pick over. Within days of his nomination...
...have been filling their coffers for years in anticipation of just such a high-stakes face-off. Now, with the swing vote of retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor hanging in the balance, they have no intention of saving it for a rainy day. Soon after the choice of Alito was announced, the organization Progress for America launched a $425,000 one-week media campaign in support of the nominee. The liberal group People for the American Way is starting a slow rollout of its own spate of anti-Alito commercials, the fastest it has ever started a campaign after...
Still, for the moment, most politicians and activists on the left are keeping their powder dry, trying their best to express reservations about Alito without lashing out and sounding shrill. Absent a number of Republican defections, the Democrats will be unable to block Alito unless they resort to a filibuster that will prolong debate and prevent a full vote. And if they go that route, many Republicans have vowed to pursue the "nuclear option"--using a simple majority to pass a rule ending filibusters for judicial nominations...