Bold Strategem Formulated

Senate democrats today announced that they would adopt a "wait and see" approach to the nomination of Judge Samuel Alito. Senator Joe Biden told reporters that Democrats would not announce their views on the nominee until after Alito's hearing and subsequent up-or-down vote on the nomination. "We're taking a cautious approach," he said.

But Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid would not rule out fierce opposition to Alito's nomination. "We could very well decide to filibuster Alito's nomination at any time after he becomes a Supreme Court Justice," said Reid.

Sen. Hillary Clinton advised the leadership to consider "holding their fire" for a fight they could win, and her colleagues agreed that this could be a prudent course to take. "We may hold our fire for some other fight we can lose," said Chuck Schumer.

He said that Democrats could decide on a firm position by early next year.