Eminent Domain

I'm watching the C-SPAN feed right now. It's going to be a 10-8 party line vote.

In other Alito news and analysis, Prof. Althouse takes a look at the poll numbers on Judge (soon to be Justice) Alito. She points out that the pro-Alito side won 5 additional percentage points after the hearings took place.

Why? Here's what Prof. Althouse thinks...

Clearly, the Democrats' strategy was poor. But exactly why was it so poor? I've said before that I think it's a mistake to portray judicial decisionmaking as a political enterprise, which is what they did, leaving Alito to prevail by doggedly explaining legal doctrine in response to every attempt at an attack. I think people want the Court to decide cases based on the law and want to believe a judge can do that. If so, the Democrats' attack on Alito would look ugly and offensive.

I agree.

EDIT: Here's part of Senator Kyl's statement...

I fear a very bad precedent is being set today, a precedent that a unanimous minority will oppose a nominee on political grounds, not because the nominee is in any way unqualified. Republicans did not apply that test to Justices Breyer or Ginsburg.

And I say precedent because it is simply unrealistic to think that one party will put itself at a disadvantage by eschewing political considerations while the other party almost unanimously applies such considerations.

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.

Expect the next nominee by a Democratic president to have a much more difficult time than Ginsburg and Breyer did.