Ad campaigns prepared for, and against, choice

WASHINGTON -- Democrats and liberal groups sought yesterday to portray the Supreme Court nominee, Samuel A. Alito Jr., as a conservative extremist, as they geared up for one of the earliest and most expensive advertising wars over a Supreme Court nominee in the nation's history.

Leading liberal groups are conducting polls over the next few days to determine the most effective ways to frame their characterizations of Alito in television and radio advertisements.

They intend to focus on cases in which Alito has endorsed a limited view of the right to privacy and civil rights, and they will make the case that he would be replacing a moderate who is a frequent swing vote on the court: Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

''We'll convey what's at stake -- and the magnitude of what's at stake -- so that people realize that the court has an impact on our daily lives," said Ralph G. Neas, president of People for the American Way, an advocacy group that played a major role in defeating the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Robert H. Bork in 1987.

''He could affect the daily lives of Americans for 20 or 30 or 40 years," Neas said. ''He could be a walking constitutional amendment."

Conservative groups, who expressed delight at Bush's choice of Alito, launched their first round of advertisements yesterday to push for his quick Senate confirmation. The Family Research Council began airing ads in five states that Bush carried and that have Democratic senators, warning that liberal judges would remove references to God from the public arena.

The conservative group Progress for America, meanwhile, launched a national cable television campaign praising Alito as ''one of America's most respected judges."

''Urge the Senate to give Samuel Alito a fair up-or-down vote," the 30-second ad says, referring to Democrats' refusal to rule out a filibuster to block a vote on Alito's nomination.

Some moderate Republican senators, however, voiced concern about aspects of Alito's record. Senators Susan M. Collins and Olympia J. Snowe, Republicans of Maine, , said yesterday that they are concerned about a case in which Alito split with colleagues to uphold the constitutionality of a Pennsylvania law that required women to obtain their spouses' consent before getting abortions. Senator Lincoln D. Chafee, a Rhode Island Republican, raised such concerns Monday.

''That dissent does raise troubling concerns in my mind, but I haven't read it yet, so I don't yet know Judge Alito's reasoning," said Collins, who, like Chafee and Snowe, supports abortion rights.

''I need to look at the judge's entire record," Collins said. ''I need to question him on his judicial philosophy, on the weight that he gives precedent, even if he may have disagreed with how a case was originally decided."

Republicans control 55 of the 100 Senate seats, so they can afford few defections in their effort to get Alito confirmed.

A bloc of 41 senators could start a filibuster, though Republicans say they would respond by seeking to change Senate rules to bar filibusters of judges.

Unlike with President Bush's previous two nominations to the Supreme Court, liberals have wasted no time in aggressively opposing Alito. In contrast to Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and the withdrawn nomination of White House counsel Harriet E. Miers, Alito is well-known to both sides of the political divide.

''He has always been on the short list, so we've been doing research," said Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America.

Keenan also said her group is likely to air ads in states with Republican senators who support abortion rights, including Maine and Rhode Island.

Liberal groups are focusing on a handful of cases in which, they argue, Alito may have abandoned the judiciary's traditional deference to the legislative branch to advance an agenda supported by conservatives.

Those include a case in which he called for invalidating a congressional ban on machine-gun sales and one in which he ruled that a federal law guaranteeing workers unpaid leave for family issues did not apply to state workers.

Liberals also said they would highlight a case in which Alito sided with police who had conducted a strip search of a drug suspect's wife and 10-year-old daughter, though a judge had authorized only a search of the suspect.

Republicans warned that any attempt to derail Alito's nomination would backfire.

''On what conceivable basis could this wonderful lawyer not be given an up-or-down vote?" said the Senate majority whip, Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky.

But after conservative pressure caused Miers to withdraw before her confirmation hearings, Republicans can no longer preach the importance of an up-or-down vote, said Senator Christopher J. Dodd, Democrat of Connecticut.

''The Republicans certainly changed all the rules here last week," Dodd said. ''They have no credibility on these issues."

In an effort to build support, Alito paid courtesy calls yesterday to senators.

He received plaudits from four Republicans, including Senator Mike DeWine of Ohio, who was among a bipartisan group of senators who averted a showdown over filibusters this year. ''It's hard for me to envision that anyone would think about filibustering this nominee," DeWine said.

DeWine also reiterated his promise to support a change in Senate rules to outlaw filibusters of judges if Democrats seek to block Alito.

The one Democrat Alito met with yesterday, Senator Tim Johnson of South Dakota, said he could not rule out a filibuster.

As they decide how to proceed, Democrats say their first priority will be to make sure that the hearings aren't rushed. There is no way to comply with Bush's request to have Alito confirmed by the end of the year and still hold ''honest" hearings on his nomination, said Senator Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont, the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee.

''We ought to do it right -- not rushed, but right," Leahy said.

Rick Klein can be reached at rklein@globe.com.