Let's fight!

AP: Bush Expected to Name New Court Nominee---

WASHINGTON - President Bush is expected to announce a new nominee for the Supreme Court on Monday, and conservatives close to the White House said the leading candidates appeared to be federal appeals judges Samuel Alito and J. Michael Luttig.

The expected nomination comes just four days after the withdrawal of Harriet Miers in the face of intense conservative opposition.

Alito and Luttig both have strong conservative credentials and would be warmly welcomed by Bush's political base. Others who were under consideration were federal judges Karen Williams, Priscilla Owen, Alice Batchelder and Michael McConnell as well as Michigan Supreme Court Justice Maura Corrigan.

A nominee perceived by Democrats as too conservative could provoke a bitter confirmation fight and possible filibuster, given the increasingly hardened positions over a woman's right to have an abortion, the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman said.
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Reid and other Democrats said that Bush, given his low poll numbers, should nominate a consensus candidate rather than someone selected specifically to rally his conservative base.

"I think the American people can see through this so clearly. The president should come forward with some middle-of-the-road person, somebody that is going to be a good Supreme Court justice, not somebody that's going to be writing the law from the bench," Reid said on ABC's "This Week."

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., refused to rule out a Senate filibuster.

The selection of someone with extreme views will not bode well "for the nomination, for the Supreme Court or for his presidency," he told CBS' "Face the Nation."