Bush nominates Alito to US Supreme Court

WASHINGTON - US President George W. Bush has nominated Judge Samuel Alito for the Supreme Court in a move that set up a showdown with Democrats but placated conservatives who bitterly rejected his last choice.

The new nomination came as Bush tries to make a course correction in his struggling presidency after a tough week in which a vice presidential aide was indicted and his first choice for a court vacancy, White House counsel Harriet Miers, withdrew due to a conservative backlash.

Democrats immediately expressed concern that Alito, a conservative in the mould of Justice Antonin Scalia, would swing the balance of power towards the right in the highest US court and put abortion rights in jeopardy.

But Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican, asked if he believed a blocking filibuster tactic by Democrats could be avoided, said, "I think so."

Bush went out of his way to emphasise Alito's lengthy resume after his October 3 choice of Miers angered conservatives who questioned her credentials and intellectual heft. Alito would replace the retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor if confirmed for the lifetime job by the US Senate.

The White House hoped Alito's background as a former Justice Department official, former federal prosecutor, and appeals court judge for 15 years, would outweigh Democratic concerns about him, a strategy that worked in the case of US Chief Justice John Roberts.

Bush said Alito has "shown a mastery of the law, a deep commitment of justice, and he is a man of enormous character."

"I'm confident that the United States Senate will be impressed by Judge Alito's distinguished record, his measured judicial temperament, and his tremendous personal integrity," he said.

Democrats vowed to give him careful scrutiny.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, wondered whether Alito was "too radical for the American people."

"I look forward to meeting Judge Alito and learning why those who want to pack the court with judicial activists are so much more enthusiastic about him than they were about Harriet Miers," Reid said.

Of particular concern to Democrats was a case in which he argued to uphold a Pennsylvania law requiring women seeking an abortion to tell their husbands. The Supreme Court overturned the law but Alito's reasoning was mentioned in the high court's dissent.

STOP 'HEMORRHAGING OF SUPPORT'

Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy called Alito a choice made from weakness and said Bush had picked a nominee "whom he hopes will stop the massive hemorrhaging of support on his right wing."

"Alito could very well fundamentally alter the balance of the court and push it dangerously to the right, placing at risk decades of American progress in safeguarding our fundamental rights and freedoms," Kennedy said.

Ralph Neas, president of the People for the American Way, said his liberal group would mobilise its 750,000 members and activists to "wage a massive national effort to defeat Alito's nomination."

"We had hoped President Bush would nominate someone with a commitment to protecting Americans' rights and freedoms," said Neas.

Republicans quickly rallied behind the beleaguered president, who last week also saw the indictment by a federal grand jury of Lewis Libby, a top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney, in a CIA leak probe.

"With this selection, the president has chosen a proven nominee that meets the highest standards of excellence," said Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Tennessee Republican.

Conservative activist Manuel Miranda, who had helped lead the charge from the right against Miers, voiced strong support of Alito, as did a number of conservative groups.

In a reference to the Miers pick, Miranda said that with Alito, Bush "has ended the corrupting practice of stealth nominations, a presidential act of statecraft for which he will be long remembered."

Alito, 55, is sometimes given the nickname "Scalito" - a comparison to Scalia, who shares his Italian heritage as well as his reputation for conservatism and a strong intellect. He is a judge on the 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia.

- REUTERS