Today's Stories Roundup

The climate among conservatives remains somewhat divided, even after the nomination of the solidly conservative Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court. The nomination, however, has somewhat energized Republicans, as will the currently brewing battle with Democrats over pre-war intelligence questions.

The largest topic of debate thus far regarding Alito has been the case in which he voted to uphold a law requiring women to notify their husbands before having abortions. The LA Times has some good background on the case and the contention it is causing here. Unlike with Harriet Miers, however, this contention is almost exlusively among party lines, and should serve to unify Republicans after their recent differences.

On the other hand, Reuters reports on Republicans still uneasy over the recent indictment of I. Lewis Libby on five felony counts, as well as the probable involvement and possible future indictment of Rove (link here).

The Washington Post also has a piece on conservatives within the administration who also have more general concerns regarding perceptions of legitimacy and honesty in the administration (link here), and how Bush's sinking ratings will reflect on their party amid numerous scandals and the fourth bloodiest month thus far in Iraq (link about October in Iraq here).

Overall, however, the Republican party as a whole and the White House specifically are not doing a lot worse after the indictment of Libby than they were previously, with Bush's withdrawl of Miers and nomination of Alito deflecting attention somewhat from the scandal. Another danger on the horizon, however, is the current push of Democrats for "Phase II" of the Iraq intelligence investigation, which would determine if Bush's administration had intentionally exaggerated or distorted intelligence regarding Saddam's WMDs (see post below).