WP: The once-sluggish confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Samuel A. Alito Jr. turned confrontational yesterday, as the nominee signaled he might be willing to revisit the ruling that legalized abortion nationwide and Democrats pummeled him over his membership in an alumni group that wanted to restrict enrollment of women and minorities.

Tempers flared openly between the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Republican chairman and eldest Democrat, and the nominee’s wife fled the marbled hearing room in tears before the day ended with Republicans predicting that Alito will win confirmation, although by a slim margin. | story
In an editorial, the New York Times says that Alito has “given the American people reasons to be worried.” | editorial

Also, in a heated exchange, Ted Kennedy spars with Arlen Specter over Alito’s membership in a discriminatory Princeton club video

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