Battlefield justice

Supreme Court | Samuel Alito's abortion views have drawn fire, but other issues are also on the minds of his opponents and the president who nominated him | Lynn Vincent

President Bush dashed into 2006 with a schedule that took him from Texas to the Capitol to Illinois in less than a week. In San Antonio on New Year's Day, he challenged critics of his domestic terror-war policies. In Washington, D.C., he led mid-week meetings at the Pentagon and White House to pitch his game plan for the war in Iraq. And in Chicago on Jan. 6, he was scheduled to tout good economic news to the Chicago Board of Trade.

While the president stumped for his views on the war and American business, aides worked behind the scenes prepping the man Mr. Bush hopes will shape constitutional law on both: 3rd Circuit Appeals Court Judge Samuel Alito. Confirmation hearings for the razor-sharp, regular-Joe jurist from Jersey are set to open on Jan. 9. Though activist groups have exchanged fire mainly over the flashpoint issue of abortion, Mr. Bush tapped Mr. Alito for other reasons as well.