Ick and Icker?
WASHINGTON - Rebounding from the failed nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court, President Bush is poised to select between two of the nation's leading conservative federal appeals court judges - both experienced jurists with deep backgrounds in constitutional law - for what promises to be a bruising Senate confirmation battle.
With an announcement expected Sunday or Monday, administration officials have narrowed the focus to Judges Samuel Alito of New Jersey and Michael Luttig of Virginia, sources involved in the process said. Both have sterling legal qualifications and solid conservative credentials, and both would set off an explosive fight with Senate Democrats, who are demanding a more moderate nominee to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.
Sources close to the process cautioned that Bush still could pick someone else, noting that he had wanted to name a woman to replace O'Connor. He had considered Priscilla Owen of Texas, another federal appeals court judge, before tapping Miers, and she remains a distant possibility, administration sources said.
But sources in the administration and others involved in the process - outside the handful in Bush's tight inner circle who were weighing the selection this weekend at Camp David - said a nominee other than Alito or Luttig would come as a surprise.
"Those are the only two names anyone is aware of," said a source who has been closely involved in the selection process and who asked not to be identified.
The conservative legal community that ardently opposed Miers' nomination - and helped force her withdrawal on Thursday - would embrace either judge, although Luttig is more well-known and would win most enthusiastic support.
Luttig also could provoke the most opposition, at least initially, from Democrats who already are threatening to filibuster any nominee they consider too conservative.
The White House is focusing on Alito and Luttig because both men have the judicial experience and intellectual heft Miers' opponents felt she lacked for the critical O'Connor vacancy. Both are so well-versed in constitutional law that they could deftly handle senators' questions. Miers, a nonjudge, did not impress key senators in private meetings and struggled in practice sessions designed to prepare her for confirmation hearings.
Administration officials, caught off-guard by the opposition to Miers, realize they cannot afford another misstep. Both Alito and Luttig would have strong support from Republican senators and prominent conservatives who were lukewarm or outright hostile to the Miers nomination.
Supreme Court: bought and sold, Bush style.
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