Harriet-Hating Right Loves Sam

I figured we were in for a Supreme battle when Chuck Schumer put out a statement slamming Samuel Alito's nomination even before it was announced.

And when the cable networks kept mentioning the judge's nickname-- "Scalito," as in he'll-rule-like-you-know-who-- it's clear the battle lines have been drawn.

One thing we won't be hearing about is qualifications, since Alito is a former prosecutor who's actually argued before the Supreme Court and has been a judge for 15 years. In fact, when President Bush was introducing him, I kept thinking about the stark contrast with Harriet Miers. The president didn't have to strain by saying Alito was a prominent lawyer or once led a Boy Scout troop or something.

So the showdown will turn on ideology, not competence, and the crazy-quilt alliances of the Miers debacle are now back to normal. Conservatives and their pundit wing are ecstatic, and liberals and their commentariat are unhappy, which is basically what you'd expect in the fight over a Bush nominee. The right's machine will be back in gear.

For the opening days, at least, the overwhelming focus will be on abortion, given Alito's ruling in the women-must-tell-their-husbands case.

Any mystery on the Roe front was quickly cleared up, according to the AP :

" 'Of course he's against abortion,' his 90-year-old mother Rose told reporters at her home in Hamilton, N.J."

Didn't someone send mom the talking points??

By the way, the White House must really want to influence the day's cable coverage, or else these 8 a.m. announcements would make no sense. It wouldn't be that smart to unveil your nominee to the world when it's 5 a.m. in California-- unless your point is not for people to watch the actual events but for sound bites and talking points to echo throughout the day.

The MSM insta-consensus is that, regardless of what happens, this was a good fight for Bush to pick.

Todd Purdum in the NYT: "The nomination of Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. to the Supreme Court has given President Bush's conservative backers and liberal opponents just the battle they wanted. And it has given Mr. Bush - battered but not broken by a range of other troubles - a fight that he and the White House believe they can hardly help but win, beginning by changing the subject in Washington.

"Having gambled that he could avoid all-out warfare with his failed nomination of Harriet Miers, whom some Democrats urged him to consider then let twist in the wind as conservatives savaged her as under qualified and ideologically suspect, Mr. Bush has now reverted to form with a nominee whose rock-solid academic credentials, long judicial experience and clear-cut conservative views had put him on the president's short list (and some Democrats' blacklist) all along."