FLORIDA'S EDITORIAL REACTION TO ALITO NOMINATION

Miami Herald, Tuesday: With so many other fine prospects to choose from...the confrontation over Judge Alito seems unnecessary and ill-timed. Americans respect the conservative turn of the court in the past quarter century. The question with Mr. Alito is whether he would shift the balance too far.

Tampa Tribune, Monday: Last time, President Bush seemed to value friendship more than qualifications. This time, it seems, he got it right. His nominee deserves a dignified and fair hearing and then an up-or-down vote by the Senate.

Palm Beach Post, Tuesday: With his approval ratings at their low point, President Bush worried more about his political base than the country when he nominated Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court...Like Robert Bork, Judge Alito is credentialed but unqualified because his views are too extreme. If President Bush thought that a good court fight would divert the nation's attention, the Senate should give him that fight.

Pensacola News Journal, Wednesday: Replacing the swing vote of Justice O'Connor with a judge more in the mold of Justice Antonin Scalia could jeopardize rights of privacy, religious freedom and equality...The mantra of the Bush administration is that it wants a conservative justice who will interpret the law rather than make it. But some of Judge Alito's decisions are activist ones that don't fit easily in the mold of a restrained judge merely applying the law.

When the Senate votes, it should remember that the integrity of the Constitution and the rights and liberties it protects are more important than any individual's prospects for confirmation.

And one thing I want to bring up: If the New York Times Regional Newspaper Group is running the same --- or very similar --- editorial, it should identify it as such. Look at these pieces from Wednesday's Lakeland Ledger and today's Gainesville Sun. It's the same editorial, edited slightly. That said...

Bush has dropped precipitously in the polls over the past several months, and a divisive nomination might actually help him recover some of his lost image as a decisive leader.