Despite Advocacy, Nominee Not on Public's Radar Screen

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Until Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) gaveled the confirmation hearings for Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. to order yesterday, the battle over Alito's nomination has been a shouting match between partisans. Whether it ever engages the public now depends on the effectiveness of Alito and his Democratic interrogators.

To the advocates on both sides, the battle is described in drastic terms. "Judge," said Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.), "this may be one of the most significant or consequential nominations that the Senate will vote on since I've been here in the last three decades." Earlier in the day, an e-mail fundraising appeal went out from a prominent conservative under the heading "The nomination of Judge Samuel Alito is in serious trouble" -- though few believe that is the case. The opening day of hearings signaled that Alito faces a far more adversarial process in winning a seat on the Supreme Court than did Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. On such issues as abortion, privacy, warrantless eavesdropping and the power of the presidency, the confluence of current events and Alito's record has given Democrats much to contest. Alito also faces greater scrutiny because he would replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the court's key swing voter.


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"A groundswell of opposition hasn't arisen," said Andrew Kohut, director of the Pew Research Center for People and the Press, who said his organization's most recent poll showed that the Alito nomination is attracting minimal attention. "You're going to have to really get some significant news out of these hearings to move the needle in a negative way."

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Democratic pollster Geoffrey Garin said Alito is in a far weaker position going into his hearings than Roberts was. "Roberts sailed into his hearings with a full head of steam, and there is virtually no momentum behind the Alito nomination, with the result that senators have much more political latitude to challenge the nomination and to oppose it," he said. But he agreed that the Judiciary Committee sessions will determine whether the Alito fight will become the kind of clash that was once predicted: "The hearings are crucial in terms of moving this nomination up on the voters' radar screens."

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/09/AR2006010901650.html