It has only been a few days since President Bush nominated 3^rd District Appellate Court Justice Samuel Alito Jr. to fill the vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court that will be created once Justice Sandra Day O’Connor retires, but already the opposition is mounting. All the usual suspects are chiming in like clockwork. Sen. Ed Kennedy (D-Mass.) said, “Rather than selecting a nominee for the good of the nation and the court, President Bush has picked a nominee whom he hopes will stop the massive hemorrhaging of support on his right wing. This is a nomination based on weakness, not strength.” Most of the more outspoken members of the Democratic Party echo Sen. Kennedy’s sentiments. Both Senators Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) have expressed their disappointment in President Bush’s nomination.

On the other side of the argument are the Conservatives and Republicans. It appears the Republicans are nearly unanimous in their support of Alito’s nomination. They are highlighting his qualifications, which, as one may recall, was the cause of most of the controversy surrounding Harriet Miers’ nomination. And he is qualified. Maybe more so than any other justice sitting on the bench right now. He graduated from Princeton with a bachelor’s degree and went on to Yale Law School where he earned his law degree. After earning his degree, he went on to work as the assistant to the Solicitor General of the United States. In case you didn’t know, the Solicitor General argues the cases that go before the Supreme Court that involve the U.S. After serving with the Solicitor General for four years, he went on to serve as deputy assistant to the Attorney General for two years and then became the U.S. Attorney for the district of New Jersey. Finally, he has served on the 3^rd District Court of Appeals as a justice for the past 15 years. It should be noted that when George H.W. Bush nominated him to the Court of Appeals in 1990, a Democratic Senate majority unanimously confirmed him. Now, 15 years later, the same man is being criticized by a number of Democrats, some of whom probably confirmed him to the appellate court.

One major concern the Democrats raise is his stance on the landmark Roe v. Wade case. A number of sources have stated that Alito is opposed to abortion, which makes sense given his Italian Catholic upbringing. But I believe the opposition is hyping this issue beyond reasonable levels. Since when, in our country, has a person’s stance on abortion become the be all, end all of that person’s views? It is true that Samuel Alito is one of the most qualified people to be nominated to sit on the Supreme Court in a long time.

But that doesn’t seem to matter to most Democrats. All they seem to care about is the possible overturning of Roe v. Wade. They call upon images of coat hangers and back-alley abortion clinics that shock and disgust most decent people. But in reality, what would happen if Roe v. Wade were overturned? Does anyone ever think about that? If the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, will that make abortions illegal throughout the U.S.? No. Not a chance. If Roe v. Wade is overturned then the states will be left to decide if abortion is legal or not. I guarantee abortion will never be illegal in California, or any other fairly liberal state for that matter. I don’t even think most conservative states would outlaw abortions. What I do think is too many people make far too big an issue over abortion without even thinking through what they’re saying.

Even in the face of his (supposed) viewpoints, Samuel Alito could still take each case on a case-by-case basis. Supreme Court justices are not supposed to be ideologues. They are not supposed to be advocates or activists. Their job is to interpret the law. Hardly anyone sitting on the bench now has had the experience interpreting law that Samuel Alito has, nor has anyone had as much experience in front of the Supreme Court. The support and opposition for his nomination are falling almost perfectly along party lines. We are in a sad state of affairs when the national dialogue in this country is so broken that opposing sides cannot agree on something they agreed 15 years ago. People need to stop concentrating on one aspect of Samuel Alito Jr. and look at the whole picture. He is an excellent choice for the Supreme Court and I support his nomination totally.