Majority of Senators Vow to Vote for Alito

Associated Press ^ | January 25, 2006 | JESSE J. HOLLAND

[RWR8189]

WASHINGTON - Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito won commitments from a majority of senators Tuesday, assuring his eventual confirmation and making a rightward tilt of the court likely. 

On the same day Alito won a 10-8 party-line approval from the Senate Judiciary Committee, five Republicans announced that they would vote for his confirmation in the full Senate, pushing him over 50 votes in the 100-member chamber.

Fifty Senate Republicans, plus one Democrat, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, have publicly committed to vote for Alito through their representatives, interviews with The Associated Press or news releases.

No Republicans have opposed him and five have yet to declare how they will vote: Sens. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine and Ted Stevens of Alaska.

One of Alito's supporters, Sen. Craig Thomas (news, bio, voting record) of Wyoming, announced after meeting with Alito in his Senate office. "He represents the kind of justice who will interpret the law with respect to the Constitution and not legislate from the bench. His judicial experience is second to none and I'm confident he will do an excellent job handling his constitutional responsibility," Thomas said.

Twenty Democrats are publicly opposing President Bush's pick to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, while the other 23 and independent Sen. Jim Jeffords of Vermont are still publicly undecided or refuse to say how they will vote on Alito's nomination.

The only way Democrats can stop the conservative judge now is through a filibuster, a maneuver they show little interest in.

The final debate on the 55-year-old New Jersey jurist begins Wednesday.

"We urge the Senate to move forward with a swift up-or-down vote so he can begin serving on our nation's highest court," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.

Democrats are working to get a large opposition vote to make their points against President Bush.

"I think it sends a message to the American people that this guy is not King George, he's President George," said Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada.

Bush should have picked a woman, said Reid, who urged the president last year to pick White House counsel Harriet Miers. "They couldn't go for her because she was an independent woman," Reid said of Miers, whose nomination was withdrawn under conservative criticism.

Bush then picked Alito, a 15-year federal appeals judge, former federal prosecutor and lawyer for the Reagan administration.

Republicans say he is a perfect choice for the high court. They praise his parrying of Democratic attacks on his judicial record and personal credibility during his confirmation hearings this month.

"If anybody has demonstrated judicial temperament and poise and patience, it is Judge Alito, And he ought to be confirmed on that basis alone," said committee chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa.

Democrats worry that Alito, along with new Chief Justice John Roberts, will push the court to the right and could even help overturn major decisions such as Roe v. Wade, the abortion rights case.

"Roberts, who promised us humility, who promised us that he would be looking to chart a middle course, we see time and again that he's falling in league with Justice Scalia and Justice Thomas," said Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, referring to Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, the court's most conservative members. "My fear is that we are adding a fourth vote to that coalition with Sam Alito's nomination. And that's why I'm going to vote no."

Roberts won the votes of 22 Democrats last year — including three on the Judiciary Committee — ranking Democrat Patrick Leahy of Vermont as well as Wisconsin Sens. Russ Feingold and Herb Kohl. Those three senators voted against Alito Tuesday. 

Several other Democrats who voted for Roberts have announced they will vote against Alito, sending the judge toward the sharpest partisan split for a Supreme Court nominee in years. The closest margin for victory for a justice in modern history is Thomas' 52-48 in 1991. In that vote, 11 Democrats broke with their party and supported President George H.W. Bush's nominee. 

Both Republicans and Democrats are preparing to use Alito as a campaign issue. Republicans say the Democratic filibuster of lower-court judges helped them knock off former Democratic Senate leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota two years ago. 

If Democrats want to make judges a campaign issue, "we welcome that debate on our side. We'll clean your clock," said Sen. Lindsey Graham (news, bio, voting record), R-S.C. 

More than half, 54 percent in a CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll out this week, said they thought the Senate should vote to confirm Alito. That is up slightly from early January before his confirmation hearings. 

Sen. Jon Kyl (news, bio, voting record), R-Ariz., also warned that Republicans would remember a party-line Alito vote in future Supreme Court nominations, noting that many Republicans voted for Justices Stephen Breyer and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who were nominated by President Clinton. 

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (news, bio, voting record), D-Calif., said things are different from when the Senate considered Breyer and Ginsburg, who were confirmed 87-9 and 96-3 respectively. "There was not the polarization within America that is there today, and not the defined move to take this court in a singular direction," she said.

[Caipirabob]

...assuring his eventual confirmation and making a rightward tilt of the court likely.

Let's rephrase that, shall we?

...assuring his eventual confirmation and making a tilt away from the radical leftist agenda of the court likely.

Ahh...better.

[SkyPilot]

The most disgusting and laughable comments made yesterday were from Sen Feinstein.

She had the audacity to suggest that things are different for Judge Alito and there should be a double standard for Liberals. You see, the country is "polarized" now under President Bush. When Clinton nominated Judge Ginsberg and Breyer, the country was not politically polarized, because the Democrats are such wonderful people.

But now! The nation is polarized, and even though ultra-Liberals like Ruth Bader Ginsberg were supported by the Senate 96-3 with Republicans being nonpartisan, the Democrats cannot respond in kind because the nation as changed since then.

I am not making this up.

[AmericaUnited]

DiFi, explaining why she wants to be like Dolly Parton...

[demlosers]

Sen. Dianne Feinstein , D-Calif., said things are different from when the Senate considered Breyer and Ginsburg, who were confirmed 87-9 and 96-3 respectively. "There was not the polarization within America that is there today, and not the defined move to take this court in a singular direction," she said.

Hello Senator Dingbat. A "Borking" took place before Breyer and Ginsberg Senate confirmations, so what was that?

[Non-Sequitur]

I think that Alito will pick up between 6 and 8 Democrat votes and won't lose a Republican Senator.

[mewzilla]

Hillie's trying to get as many Dems as she can to vote against Alito to provide her with some political cover. They think that the more Dems that vote against Alito, the less looney left she looks. Nice try. She's just going to drag some of those red state Dems down along with her if they're gutless enough to give in to her.

[yer gonna put yer eye out]

Feinstein is the Democrats female Ted Kennedy

[McGavin999]

You know what? It's not going to matter one bit what the vote is. Alito is going to be on the court and in a few years nobody will remember what the confirmation vote was.

What the democrats HAVE succeeded in doing is politicizing the SCOTUS picks and from now on you can expect this sort of thing to go on. It's bad for the country and THAT will be remembered.

[syriacus]

Your report on Senator Whinestein is accurate. She is now, officially, a living anachronism.

[syriacus]

DiFi, explaining why she wants to be like Dolly Parton...

LOL

[BamaAndy]

Oh yes there was Fienstien--ginsberg came in the clinton clown years where all he did was divide.

[kindred]

[Bush should have picked a woman, said Reid]

Am I the only one in America who has noticed that every time quota systems are used in government, that the system that uses them eventually is overrun and controlled by the quota people who then demand that only quota people should control government.
No wonder government is so wasteful and corrupt, our public school systems hostile to boys and the local school boards unable to educate children while demanding more and more and more pay.

[goldstategop]

Right. Clinton's nominees weren't liberals. Its an issue only when conservatives are nominated to the High Court by Republican Presidents, eh DiFi? Let me remind the Democrats elections have consequences. The nomination of Samuel Alito is one of them.

(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")

[mewzilla]

Not liberals. Snort. Sure, everyone thinks that legalizing prostitution and lowering the age of consent to 12 are your average American values. Yup, the heart and soul of America there, all right.

Good gad.

[rdb3]

I think that Alito will pick up between 6 and 8 Democrat votes and won't lose a Republican Senator.

I hope you're right, yet I think someone is being less than honest.

This is a ch__ch. What's missing?

[grobdriver]

Quack,quack,quack,quack,quack,quack,quack,quack...
All I want to know is will Frist push the vote through in a timely manner.

[jackieaxe]

Looking at your posted picture, all I can think of is that Bob Shiffer is as bad or worst than Dan Rather. For him, there is no such thing as a hard question for Democrats he interviews, in fact most of his questions to them are layups or setups. The ultra-liberal press rolls on!

[R.W.Ratikal]

The danger is that there are just enough Republicans who usually vote with the socialists to deny confirmation to Alito. The usual suspects, Chaffee, Snow, Specter and other RINOs will probably vote with the dems.

This is a do or die struggle for the Demosocialists. They must keep the Leftist tilt on the High Court. They will call in all their chits on this one.

[Condor51]

If Democrats want to make judges a campaign issue, "we welcome that debate on our side. We'll clean your clock," said Sen. Lindsey Graham.

Ohhhhhhh Lindsey (swoon)!!
When you talk like that you sound oh so ... so ... butch.

/s