United States President George W. Bush (left) listens after announcing the nomination of U.S. Appeals Court Justice Samuel Alito for associate justice of the Supreme Court at the White House in Washington, D.C., yesterday. Bush nominated Alito to the Supreme Court yesterday in a move likely to set off a partisan battle with Democrats, as he tries to right his struggling presidency. - REUTERS
WASHINGTON (AP):
PRESIDENT GEORGE W. Bush, stung by the rejection of his first choice, nominated a conservative judge to fill a critical Supreme Court vacancy yesterday in a bid to reshape America's top court, mollify his political base and help lift the White House out of the lowest point of the Bush presidency.
The nomination of Samuel Alito was expected to lead to a political brawl with minority Democrats, who warned that the nominee may be an extremist.
If confirmed by the Republican-led Senate, Alito would replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, a moderate who often served as the swing vote on the most divisive issues in American society, including abortion and death penalty cases.
Alito's nomination is one step in Bush's political recovery plan, as he tries to regain his footing after a cascade of troubles. His approval rating in the polls has tumbled to the lowest point of his presidency, and Americans are unhappy about high energy prices, the costly war in Iraq and economic doubts. Bush, also, has been hit by a criminal investigation that led to charges against the top aid of vice-president Dick Cheney.
Those problems were compounded by the furor over Bush's first choice for the court seat, Bush's lawyer, Harriet Miers. Conservatives denounced Miers as unqualified and questioned her ideology, forcing her to withdraw the nomination last week.
WELCOME CHOICE
Most of Bush's conservative backers welcomed the choice of Alito. Unlike Miers, who has never been a judge, Alito has been a strong conservative voice on the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia since Bush's father, former President George H.W. Bush, seated him there in 1990.
Alito "has more prior judicial experience than any Supreme Court nominee in 70 years," Bush said.
So consistently conservative, Alito has been dubbed 'Scalito' or 'Scalia-lite' by some lawyers, because his judicial philosophy invites comparisons to conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. But, while Scalia is outspoken and is known to badger lawyers, Alito is polite, reserved and even-tempered.
Alito favors more restrictions on abortion rights than either the Supreme Court has allowed or O'Connor has supported, based on a 1992 case in which he supported spousal notification.
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, who had jumped to the support of Miers, promised to give Alito a "hard look." Democrats have used procedural tactics to block judicial nominations they view as too extreme.
"The Senate needs to find out if the man replacing Miers is too radical for the American people," he said.
Wasting no time, the White House arranged for Alito to go to the Congress after the announcement to meet senators. Bush said he wanted Alito confirmed by year's end.
The White House hopes the choice mends a rift in the Republican Party caused by the Miers nomination. Polls show most Democrats and most independents don't approve of his job performance, leaving the conservative wing of his party the only thing keeping Bush afloat politically.
Conservative activist Gary Bauer who had challenged Miers' nomination predicted Democrats will fight Alito. "At least now the president is having a battle with his political opponents and not with his friends," Bauer told CNN television.
Alito signaled his alliance with conservatives, speaking of the "limited role the courts play in our constitutional system." Conservatives say the Supreme Court has overstepped its role, effectively bypassing Congress with findings on abortion or other issues that they say have no basis in the U.S. constitution or law.
Democratic Sen. Edward M. Kennedy pulled no punches. "Rather than selecting a nominee for the good of the nation and the court, President Bush has picked a nominee whom he hopes will stop the massive hemorrhaging of support on his right wing. This is a nomination based on weakness, not on strength."
The Planned Parenthood Federation of America immediately called on the Senate to reject the nomination. "Judge Alito would undermine basic reproductive rights," said Karen Pearl, interim president. "It is outrageous that President Bush would replace a moderate conservative like Justice O'Connor with a conservative hardliner."
In the early 1990s, Alito was the lone dissenter in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, a case in which his court struck down a Pennsylvania law that included a provision requiring women seeking abortions to notify their spouses.
He has not been a down-the-line abortion foe, however. In 2000, Alito joined the majority that found a New Jersey law banning late-term abortions unconstitutional. In his concurring opinion, Alito said the Supreme Court required such a ban to include an exception if the mother's health was endangered.
Alito, an Italian-American, has a resume filled with stepping stones to the high court. He was educated at Princeton University and earned a law degree from Yale University, the president's alma mater.
