Alito passes judiciary committee vote 10 to 8

WASHINGTON -- The Judiciary Committee favorably recommended Samuel Alito's Supreme Court nomination to the full Senate on a party-line vote Tuesday, moving the conservative jurist one step closer to joining the high court.\nAll 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.\nThe full Senate expects to take a final vote on Alito's nomination before the end of the week. 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.\nIn a statement after the vote, the White House said: "The negative tone, relentless attacks and distortion of Judge Alito's 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."\n"Democrats have repeatedly twisted and distorted Judge Alito's positions to the point where they are unrecognizable," said spokesman Stephen Schmidt. "Democrats' relentless politicization of a process that has traditionally been above partisan politics is disappointing."\nEven with the party-line vote, Democrats are not expected to filibuster Alito's nomination. The Senate will begin final debate Wednesday, and Republicans hope to get a final vote by Friday.\nAlito has a lot of public support as his nomination heads to the full Senate. More than half, 54 percent in a CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll out this week, said they thought the Senate should vote to confirm him. That is up slightly from early January, before hearings were held.\nConservative Chief Justice John Roberts won the votes of 22 Democrats last year -- including three in committee -- ranking Democrat Patrick Leahy of Vermont as well as Wisconsin Sens. Russ Feingold and Herb Kohl.\nThose three senators voted against Alito Tuesday.\n"This is a nomination that I fear threatens the fundamental rights and liberties of all Americans now and for generations to come," Leahy said of the Alito nomination.\nAlito was the White House's second choice for that seat. White House counsel Harriet Miers withdrew from consideration last year after conservative criticism of her nomination.\nRepublicans 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 a lower-court judge helped them knock off former Democratic Senate leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota two years ago.\nIf 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.\nAlito may be on his way to the most partisan victory for a Supreme Court nominee in years. The closest margin for victory for a Supreme Court justice in modern history is Justice Clarence Thomas' 52-48 victory in 1991. In that vote, 11 Democrats broke with their party and voted for President George H.W. Bush's nominee.\nSen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., warned that Republicans would remember a party-line Alito vote in future Supreme Court nominations, considering several Republicans voted for Justices Stephen Breyer and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who were nominated by President Clinton.\n"It is simply unrealistic to think that one party would put itself at a disadvantage by eschewing political considerations while the other party almost unanimously applies such considerations," Kyl said. "So I say to my Democratic friends: Think carefully about what is being done today. Its impact will be felt well beyond this particular nominee."\nSen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said things are different from when the Senate considered Breyer and Ginsburg, who were confirmed 87-9 and 96-3 respectively. "There was not the polarization within America that is there today, and not the defined move to take this court in a singular direction," Feinstein said.\nLiberal groups are pushing hard to get as many Democrats as possible to vote against Alito on the Senate floor. Anti-Alito protesters holding "Oppose Alito, Save Roe" and "Stop Alito" signs lined up outside the U.S. Capitol, hoping to sway some votes.