Democrats May Delay Alito Nomination Vote

[ProSense]

Democrats May Delay Alito Nomination Vote

By LAURIE KELLMAN, Associated Press Writer
16 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Democrats confirmed Friday that they will make a last-ditch attempt to slow Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito's momentum by delaying the first vote on his candidacy.

snip...

Their liberal supporters plan to work senators hard before the final vote to ensure as many of them as possible vote against Alito, who they say will be likely to swing the court to the right in replacing O'Connor. She provided decisive votes on such important issues as abortion, capital punishment and affirmative action.

Snip...

But Democrats' chances of stopping Alito seem to get slimmer each day. The only way they can block his nomination is through a filibuster, and they would need Republican help to keep Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., from banning the tactic.

But five of the seven Republican members of the "Gang of 14" — centrist senators who defused a Senate showdown over judicial filibusters last year by saying "extraordinary circumstances" would be needed — already have said they will not help Democrats if they attempt to filibuster Alito's confirmation.

more...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060114/ap_on_go_su_co/alito

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

1. "extraordinary circumstances" would be met and his vote should be delayed

indefinitely in order to halt the confirmation of a right wing reactionary who favors a "unitary executive branch" whose nomination was made by a President who had just been presented with Articles of Impeachment!!! Voila! Problem solved. Alito shelved until Bush's own status is clarified.

[Innocent Smith]

2. rule of the senate

Under the rules of the Senate they are able to delay this vote one week and the Frist can't do anything about it. After that they need to filibuster though to stop a vote.

[pushycat]

3. Why would they NOT filibuster? What would stop them from it?

If anyone has a good opinion as to why Alito should not be stopped, please help me to understand that.