The AP's Ron Fournier reports that President Bush has nominated Samuel Alito, a judge on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. The AP supplements Fournier's coverage with a profile by Donna Cassatta, who calls Alito a "strong conservative" and notes that other have called him "Scalito" and "Scalia-lite," and a third article by Gina Holland, who lays out Alito's history of rulings to curtail abortion rights. Along these lines, Think Progress presents some of Alito's less than progressive stances on issues.

President Bush will get the fight so desperately desired by the right fringe of American politics. People for the American Way, a leading liberal interest group, has pledged to "wage massive national effort to defeat" Alito, and Senate Republicans might choose to invoke the nuclear option to stop the Democratic effort to block Alito's nomination. Let's just hope that this epic struggle is worth the strife and bad blood it will instill.

[Update 8:26 AM Pacific]: Atrios rightly notes that much of the focus will now turn to Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA), the pro-choice moderate who chairs the Judiciary Committee. Will Specter work hard to help confirm a nominee with a strong record of limiting abortion rights? He did in 1991 (a year before his reelection bid), when he strongly supported the nomination of Clarence Thomas. Or will he help block a nominee who aimed to overturn Roe? He did in 1987 (a year after his reelection bid), when he helped stop the nomination of Robert Bork.