The Nation has a list of questions it would like Senators to ask Alito about a variety of issues. Nomination Watch by the Women's National Law Center is focusing on privacy and reproductive freedom issues. Here's their top ten list of what to watch for. People for the American Way have a 155 page report on Alito, and a guide for cracking the codes used at the hearing.

I hope Alito's record on criminal justice issues and views of presidential power get a lot of attention. The American Constitution Society has this white paper (pdf) on Alito's death penalty record.

For hearing news related to all issues, Howard Bashman of How Appealing will have the best roundup. Sentencing Law and Policy recaps its coverage here on crime and justice issues. Armando at Daily Kos is another must read.

The Washington Post Monday reports Democrats will fight Alito.

Ralph Neas of People for the American Way reminds us not to assume Alito will be confirmed.

"It's amazing how often the conventional wisdom in this town is wrong," said Ralph Neas, president of People for the American Way, a liberal advocacy group that led the opposition to the 1987 nomination of Robert Bork and is leading the opposition to Judge Alito. "Going into the Bork hearings, Bork was favored to win confirmation. He was decisively rejected, 58 to 42."

Senators Leahy, Schumer, Kennedy and Feingold will ask tough questions. The warrantless NSA wiretapping is on everyone's mind.

A string of Democratic senators, including Mr. Schumer, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Feingold and Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, have signaled their intention to question Judge Alito on the spying issue. They will try to draw a link between the program and a 1984 memo in which Judge Alito, then a lawyer for the Reagan administration, argued that the attorney general should be immune from lawsuits for ordering wiretaps without a court order.

"There is no question that the question of executive powers in time of war, in the context of the terrorist threat, will be central to the Alito hearings," Mr. Feingold said, adding, "I would be surprised if it wasn't one of the most important topics."

If he stumbles badly, he'll fall the way of Bork. A second defeat on a Supreme Court nominee would further hurt Bush, Republicans and the evangelical right.

This will be an interesting week, for sure. The Wall St. Journal reports Alito has been prepping since Thanksgiving.

Sen. Chafee of Rhode Island is considered the most likely Republican defector, and Sen. Nelson of Nebraska the likeliest Democratic crossover. In preparation for his confirmation hearings, which start Monday before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Alito has been drilling regularly since Thanksgiving in questioning sessions lasting around 30 minutes at the Justice Department, with two department lawyers doing the questioning. On Thursday, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, one of the "gang of 14" who sits on Judiciary, joined a so-called moot court session at the White House.

[Graphic exclusive to TalkLeft]