Is Alito a match into dry tinder?

The Alito announcement is just now making the rounds of the various news outlets and blogs. The news folks are predictably fast to label him "very conservative" but this time the more legally-informed blogs seem to agree. We knew the nominee would be conservative, because we knew who was going to decide the nomination. What I would like to know now, is what sort of conservative. That will determine whether this is the beginning of the great death-match on the hill, or a relatively quick and painless confirmation. Some early analysis seems to indicate that this fellow is the good sort of conservative...careful, deliberate, focused on the legal points and not on his or her own emotional response (at Patterico, tip to Malkin). More here... Of course, any judge smart enough to obtain the federal bench knows better than to rule in an obviously arbitrary and personally motivated way. They always explain their opinions in terms of points of law. The trouble is that a powerful intellect fueled by powerful ideology can twist and contort any situation to provide the desired legal grounds. A properly conservative judge ought to be wary of that, capable of seeing the case clearly without the obstructing fog of politics. The predictable forces on the left and in the media, have jumped out early with their condemnation of the nominee; no surprise there (and no link from me, sorry). The key will be the moderates, especially the "Gang of 14" who will decide whether a filibuster can be broken. If Judge Alito's qualifications and legal care give them sufficient cover to support him, the deal is done, ad the Democrats may opt to avoid a losing war. On the other hand, their base is as eager for a fight as the conservative core. This is not a bad position, really. The folks out on the political wings have their minds made up and are itching for a brutal fight. The folks in the center, along with the White House and Congress, I suspect, are just as eager to avoid a fight. Since Alito has the long paper trail that Miers lacked one would assume that the White House has looked it over and is prepared to sell it as well as they sold Roberts. This term the White House does not always act as expected, so I think we have to wait and see how things develop.

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