From WAPO:

Under other circumstances, President Bush's choice of Judge Samuel Alito for the Supreme Court would have been seen as a bold move by a strong president with a clear policy objective. By choosing a man of superior intellectual heft and an indelible record of conservative views on major social issues, Bush would have been challenging his critics on the Democratic side to test their arguments in an arena where everything favored him: a Republican Senate.

But after the fiasco of the Harriet Miers nomination and the other reversals of recent days and weeks, the Alito nomination inevitably looks like a defensive move, a lunge for the lifeboat by an embattled president to secure what is left of his political base. Instead of a consistent and principled approach to major decision making, Bush's efforts look like off-balance grabs for whatever policy rationales he can find. The president's opponents are emboldened by this performance, and his fellow partisans must increasingly wonder if they can afford to march to his command.

John Cole has an interesting take on the issue.

The Alito nomination is just another example of an Administration reeling under the weight of failure. My good friend the Commissar spoke the other day, about Lefty opposition to Alito:

I think it's fair to say that the entire Vast Right Wing Conspiracy will be on board for the Alito nomination. If the Moonbats want to rumble, I say (without apology and mindful of precedent) "Bring it on."

I think even he may be surprised that the Dems are taking his advice.

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.grupo-utopia.com/blog/mt/mt-tb.cgi/960