Alito Nomination Goes to Full Senate After Party-Line Vote in Judiciary Committee

From Associated Press via Yahoo:

WASHINGTON - The Judiciary Committee favorably recommended Samuel Alito's Supreme Court nomination to the full Senate on a party-line vote Tuesday, ensuring prospects the conservative jurist will join the high court bench.

All 10 Republicans voted for Alito, while all eight Democrats voted against him. The partisan vote was almost preordained, with 15 of the 18 senators announcing their votes even before the committee's session began.

The full Senate expects to take a final vote on Alito's nomination before the end of the week, said Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., the committee chairman. That vote is also expected to follow along party lines, with only one Democrat — Ben Nelson of Nebraska — coming out so far in support of Alito. Republicans hold the balance of power in the Senate 55-44, with one independent.

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But Democrats are fretting that the 55-year-old jurist and former lawyer for the Reagan administration will swing the court to the right and help overturn precedent-setting decisions like Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court's abortion rights case, although he refused to talk about that decision at his confirmation hearing.

"He still believes that the Constitution does not protect a right to an abortion, but does not want to tell the American people because he knows how unpopular that view is," said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.

In a statement after the vote, the White House said: "The negative tone, relentless attacks and distortion of Judge Alitos career confirmed what we already knew from the hearings: Judge Alito had an open mind but the Democrats, beholden to their interest groups, did not."

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Republicans and Democrats are preparing to use the partisan battle over judicial nominations as a campaign issue in the midterm election this year. Republicans say the Democratic filibuster of lower-court judges helped them knock off former Democratic Senate leader Tom Daschle of Sout Dakota two years ago.

If Democrats want to make judges a campaign issue, "we welcome that debate on our side. We'll clean your clock," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.

(emphasis added)