The Post is reporting that President Bush will "announce a new Supreme Court nomination today, moving quickly after a weekend of consultations to put forward a replacement for the ill-fated choice of Harriet Miers in hopes of recapturing political momentum, according to Republicans close to the White House".
The three leading candidates: Alito, Luttig, and Batchelder.
"Any of the three would draw support from many conservative activists, lawyers and columnists who vigorously attacked Miers as an underqualified presidential crony. At the same time, the three have years of court rulings that liberals could use against them."
Indeed, "Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) said yesterday that he has already warned the White House that nominating Alito -- who is often compared to Justice Antonin Scalia -- would 'create a lot of problems'."
Look for the Republican Party -- and its disparate conservative elements, including those that rebelled over the Miers nomination -- to unite behind Bush's nominee, whomever it may be (unless it's, say, Gonzales, who would provoke further cries of cronyism and heresy from the right).
And look for the Democratic Party to stand firm, at least at first and through the confirmation hearings.
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Around the blogosphere:
TalkLeft: "Quick action, calculated to distract the news media from the Plame investigation, may also be calculated to consolidate the Republican Party behind a nominee who is trusted to advance a conservative agenda."
Southern Appeal thinks it might be Brown (JRB). I doubt it, but anything's possible. (At least the reasoning is sound.)
If it's Alito, Confirm Them will be "delighted".
And it looks like it will be, if RedState.org is to be believed: "Luttig is a possibility, but there is some concern that Luttig could 'grow' in office." (As if growth is so bad!)
All the more reason why, of the leading candidates, I hope it's Luttig.
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Our previous posts on all this (in chronological order):
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