He’s heading up Capitol Hill, where the reception will be both warm and chilly. When those kinds of temps hit each other in the world of weather, you get lots of thunder. The expectation up on the Hill is that something similar will be developing over the next few weeks.

The Democrats are already mapping out their strategy. Several conference calls have already taken place this morning, coordinating surrogate and third-party campaigns against the nomination. “We’re going to filibuster,” a Democratic Senate Judiciary aide proclaimed on his ride into the office. “There is no doubt about that. We began talking about it on Friday when rumors first hit that it might be Alito or Luttig.”

John points out in an earlier post what has the Democrats so riled up about Alito: their inability to pin him down judicially. The White House loved the abortion rulings, because they highlighted Alito’s judicial fairness. Democrats will try to attack Alito, but they will find him an equal to Roberts in many regards. Look for Arlen Specter also to be generally pleased. He enjoys an intellectual tussle, and that is what the President has given him.