Senate Clears Way for Vote to Confirm Court Nominee - New York Times

My prediction: Bush will be crowing tonight at the SOTU as he introduces the newest justice: "The last obstacle to the confirmation of Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. as the 110th justice of the Supreme Court was cleared on Monday, providing conservatives with what they believe will be another reliable vote on the deeply divided court.

The Senate voted 72 to 25 to allow an up-or-down vote on Judge Alito, ending a last-ditch Democratic effort to block the nomination and giving President Bush a victory to recount in his State of the Union address on Tuesday.

A majority of the Republican-controlled Senate has already pledged to support Judge Alito's confirmation in the final vote, scheduled for Tuesday morning, while almost all of the 45 Democrats are expected to vote against it."