Bush Nominates Second Candidate: Samual A. Alito

At 5 AM PST, 8 AM EST, President Bush will officially submit the name of Samuel A. Alito to fill the SCOTUS position vacated by Sandra Day O'Connor -- the second time, I hope, being the proverbial charm.

In blogging, it's all about timing so, silly me, I got up very early to begin checking the internet for leaks and hints, and came up with the above AP story. In doing a bit further research, one particular paragraph warrants reproduction from the story here:

So consistently conservative, Alito has been dubbed "Scalito" or "Scalia-lite" by some lawyers because his judicial philosophy invites comparisons to conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. But while Scalia is outspoken and is known to badger lawyers, Alito is polite, reserved and even-tempered.

Unnamed "insiders" within the Bush Administration were supposedly saying that Alito, 55, was "Bush's favorite choice of the judges in the last set of deliberations" but that Bush wanted someone outside the courts first -- hence the nomination of Harriet Miers.

Okay: bit of a heavy sigh here; it isn't Janice Rogers Brown -- I was so hoping for that fight. But at the outset, though this person is outside my meagre purvey of judicial knowledge (like I'm a judicial scholar; not), it still appears that the Dems are girding their loins for a fight. And I am so hoping, in reverse, that Bush goes the distance. Alito isn't JRB or Luttig or McConnell. He's still in his 50's, so that's a plus. And he currently sits on the 3rd US District Court of Appeals and has been so sitting since 1990 following an appoint by GHWB.

At the outset, Alito appears of serious consideration. I want to see where this goes. And boy, do I sense a backyard brawl coming. . .