Her Idea of Justice: Absolutely Not Alito

"I think everyone -- before they said anything else -- would say how much they like Nan and what a wonderful person" she is, he says. "But in addition to being a special person, she's also a person that has an extraordinary resolve and there's a lot of steel there. . . . You can always count on Nan never to give up."

Bruce Fein, a Washington lawyer and one of Aron's frequent opponents, agrees about the tenacity. They are cordial, he says, and have debated the issue of the courts for years. Earlier this year they took that debate on the road, appearing at several universities.

"She certainly isn't one who thinks that compromises on her opinions of judicial nominations should be done with any readiness. She's more of the 'Let's stand like the Spartans at Thermopylae,' " Fein jokes.

"Nan is viewed as an effective advocate for her side, someone willing to stage a debate anywhere, anytime and as a vigorous proponent for her side's view," says Sean Rushton, executive director of the Committee for Justice, the Alliance's conservative counterweight.

The left, he says, seems stuck in time. "I think that many on the left like Nan pioneered certain ideas and a particular view of the court in the 1970s and that's what they continue to push today even though the court and arguably the country has moved beyond that view."

Despite Aron's confidence, Fein believes Alito is bound for the court, and he knows that kind of talk doesn't mean much to Aron.

There is another poster hanging right by her office desk. It's from her alma mater, Oberlin College, famously a stop on the Underground Railroad, a fact never lost on her.

"Think one person can change the world?" it asks, then answers its own question: "So do we."