President Bush nominated Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court Monday to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.
Bush's previous nomination of White House Counsel Harriet Miers sparked opposition from conservative activists, who claimed she was inexperienced. Miers withdrew her nomination Thursday. Alito has also served as a U.S. attorney.
Senior Brian Shactman, chair of UW-Madison College Democrats, said he believes Bush is pandering to his religious conservative base with the sudden nomination of Alito, who has a record of conservative decisions.
'It's almost as if Bush has a litmus test for judges, which he said he wouldn't have,' Shactman said. 'That's going to make me look at his record a lot more carefully and make me more suspicious of his nomination. I think that's what's making Democrats suspicious.'
The Democrats' displeasure with the nomination of Alito does not necessarily mean they will filibuster in the Senate.
'I think there's a danger here for both sides. Democrats might not be unified enough to manage to block it, but there's also a danger for Republicans that if the Democrats and liberals succeed in portraying him as too far to the right, then you could actually lose a few Republican votes,' UW-Madison political science professor Charles Franklin said.
Even if the Democrats could agree to filibuster, it would reflect poorly on their party, according to William Richardson, a district chair of the Republican Party of Dane County.
'I think it will be seen as sour grapes, pouting and raising hell without accomplishing anything,' Richardson said.
NARAL and other pro-choice advocacy groups oppose Bush's choice, fearing Alito will help overrule a woman's right to have an abortion, granted in Roe v. Wade's 1972 decision. In Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, Alito defended a law that required a woman to notify her husband before receiving an abortion.
The media has recently referred to Alito as 'Scalito,' claiming he shares the ideology of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. The combination of these two Italian names has outraged the National Italian American Foundation, as well as UW-Madison law professor Ann Althouse.
'It acts as if all conservatives are alike and that judges are simply ideologues who have a specific agenda which they just trot out whenever the occasion arises,' Althouse said.
