Bush nominates conservative Alito to SC

President George W Bush on Monday nominated judge Samuel Alito to the US Supreme Court, setting the stage for a political fight in the Senate, as he is close to the conservatives against whom several top Democratic lawmakers have voiced apprehension.

Judge Alito, nominated in place of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who is retiring, has a strong judicial track record unlike the previous nominee Harriet Miers, who withdrew from the race.

"Judge Alito is one of the most accomplished and respected judges in America," Bush said, while making the announcement.

"He has got a mastery over law and a deep commitment to justice," the President said, asking the Senate to confirm his choice by the end of the year.

Bush also made it clear that Judge Alito had more judicial experience than any nominee of the Supreme Court over a last 70-year period.

The White House is wasting no time on the nomination and has scheduled Judge Alito's first appearance on Capitol Hill on Monday itself right after the announcement.

Judge Alito is a conservative on the 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals, a Philadelphia-based court. He has been dubbed "Scalito" or "Scalia Lite," a reference to the current justice Antonin Scalia of the US Supreme Court, known for his conservative credentials.

Democrats had warned the White House to pick a candidate that would go along the mainstream and not opt for a person to merely satisfy the conservative right, which had been up in arms for the nomination of Miers.

There had been speculation on Sunday that soon after returning from Camp David, where he had spent the weekend, the President will put forth his new nominee for the Supreme Court.

The nomination is partly to stem the political troubles that he has been facing last week that included Miers' withdrawing her name and the indictment of a top White House official, I Lewis "Scooter" Libby, over a case of leaking the identity of a CIA operative.