The U.S. Senate began a bitter debate over Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito on Wednesday, as Democrats said he valued presidential power over civil liberties and Republicans denounced a "smear" campaign, Reuters reported. Republicans, who were expected to prevail when the full Senate votes on Alito possibly later this week, praised the 55-year-old conservative federal appeals judge as being in the American mainstream and worthy of the lifetime job. "Judge Alito deserves to become Justice Alito," said Republican Senate Leader Bill Frist in opening the debate. "Those who oppose him are smearing a decent and honorable man." Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, a leading liberal voice, quickly ripped into Alito by complaining about what he described as bid for expanded power by U.S. President George W. Bush. He cited in particular the administration's program of domestic eavesdropping without warrants. "The record demonstrates that we cannot count on Judge Alito to blow the whistle when the president is out of bounds," Kennedy said. "He (Alito) is a long-standing advocate for expanding executive power, even at the expense of core individual liberties." --More 22 17 Local Time 19 17 GMT
