A Scalia by any other name

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“The Alito nomination has all the makings of one of the most contentious Supreme Court battles in American history, with both liberals and conservatives raring for a knock-down, drag-out fight. After the Miers debacle, conservatives finally have their man in the hot seat, a native son of the movement who spread his wings in the Reagan administration and then staked out a reputation as a conservative’s conservative on a relatively liberal appellate court. Liberals, for their part, have a nominee with a documented record opposing some of the country’s most popular legal principles.” — Michael Scherer (Salon)

But is an all-out fight over Alito going to be good for the Democrats? Ed Fitzgerald has a good discussion of the concerns that the Republicans may circle the wagons around this issue. He quotes Publius: “Court fights are necessarily culture war fights, and polarization along culture war lines are usually better for conservatives.” Has current Republican fractiousness and vulnerability been overestimated? Are Democrats now well-situated to rout the Republicans in the 2006 mid-term elections and how does that weigh in the balance against the damning legacy of stacking the Supreme Court with the stuff of Bush’s wet dreams and our worst nightmares? Fitzgerald reassures us that most people don’t pay much attention to the Supreme Court and the far-off Washington battle would not be likely to have any effect on the elections. I tend to agree; when has the American electorate ever made an informed choice based on the truly important issues? On the other hand, both the nature and the timing of the nomination suggest it may not have as much to do with leaving a legacy of conservative pain for future generations — Bush has, after all, not been one with much capacity for deferred gratification or a vision that extends beyond the confines of his paltry field of view — as it does beginning his comeback, reuniting Republicans (who are uniformly laudatory about the nomination, rightwingnut or not) and diverting attention from Plamegate and the Iraq debacle.

New York Times editorial (goes without saying):

“Instead of nominating a qualified moderate to the Supreme Court who could have garnered wide support, President Bush has set up another party-line standoff.”