Word off the Hill on the Senate side is that Democrats are divided on how to approach a delay on the vote of Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito. According the Senate sources, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid was none too happy with the leak late yesterday by some of his aides about the planned one-week delay in a Judiciary Committee vote. But just what Democrats will do remains unclear. It appears now that the Democrats seem content to talk a tough good game, but wait to see how the hearings play out before they show their true hand.

While much of the media spotlight of late has focused on Sens. Patrick Leahy and Chuck Schumer, the man to watch next week — as with the Robert Bork nomination — is Sen. Ted Kennedy. He is the one spearheading much of the agitation on the Democratic side, and there is talk that if he had his way, the Alito vote would be put off into February.