CBS Evening News - President Bush Nominates Judge Samuel Alito for Supreme Court Seat

CBS Evening News
October 31, 2005

President Bush nominates Judge Samuel Alito to serve on the US Supreme Court

BOB SCHIEFFER, anchor:

Well, conservatives wanted a conservative on the Supreme Court and said the president ought to risk a fight in the Senate to get one. Their wishes have been fulfilled. Samuel Alito is a respected conservative, and if the early Democratic reaction is an indication of what's ahead, it will take a knock-down, drag-out fight to get him confirmed. We have expensive--extensive coverage and analysis tonight, and we begin at the White House. Here's John Roberts.

JOHN ROBERTS reporting:

Republicans were demanding someone with a solid background and visible paper trail, and today they got him, Judge Samuel Alito from Philadelphia's 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals.

President GEORGE W. BUSH: Judge Alito has served with distinction on that court for 15 years, and now more prior judicial experience than any Supreme Court nominee in more than 70 years.

Judge SAMUEL ALITO (Supreme Court Nominee): I am deeply honored.

ROBERTS: Conservatives were, quote, "deliriously happy" over the choice. And why not. Alito's judicial philosophy so mirrors that of the Supreme Court's hard-liner, Antonin Scalia, that he's been nicknamed "Scalito."

Judge ALITO: Federal judges have the duty to interpret the Constitution and the laws faithfully and fairly, to protect the constitutional rights of all Americans and to do these things with care and with restraint.

ROBERTS: When he nominated Harriet Miers, President Bush made a virtue of her lack of judicial experience; 'the best person for the job,' he said. But damage control dictated that this time he choose someone well-established in the so-called 'judicial monastery.'

Mr. ED GILLESPIE (White House Special Adviser): He is well known to people in a way that Harriet Miers was not. And those who know him are very excited about his nomination.

ROBERTS: And after the disaster of the Miers nomination, some conservatives said today's news was like waking from a bad dream.

Mr. JAY SEKULOW (American Center for Law & Justice): Wounds are healed and the party is united, and conservatives are feeling like this was a grand slam by the president. I mean, the enthusiasm level for Sam Alito is incredibly high.

ROBERTS: If confirmed, Alito would wipe out the swing seat now occupied by Sandra Day O'Connor, tilting the Supreme Court in a solidly conservative direction for years to come.

ANDREW COHEN (CBS News Legal Analyst): Whether it's abortion rights or religion in public life or the role of the executive in a time of war, all the cutting-edge issues may actually change.

ROBERTS: The nomination is bound to ignite a bitter fight with Democrats. 'But wait a minute,' said the president; Alito was confirmed unanimously by a Democratically controlled Senate twice.

Pres. BUSH: And I urge the Senate to act promptly on this important nomination so that an up-or-down vote is held before the end of this year.

ROBERTS: While there's still plenty of hard politics still ahead, the president has effectively changed the subject away from the CIA leak investigation, the Iraq War and other troubles plaguing the White House. But the distraction may be short lived because the vice president's former chief of staff has hit first day in court this coming Thursday.