THE naming of a new Supreme Court nominee by President Bush was close yesterday, White House aides said.

The President, who was forced last week to abort the nomination of Harriet Miers, his former personal lawyer, after a revolt within his party, is expected to shore up support by picking a judge with unambiguous conservative credentials.

While that will please his conservative base and help to reunite a fractured Republican Party, it is likely to trigger a potentially damaging Senate confirmation battle with Democrats.

One judge touted as a front-runner is Samuel Alito. The Philadelphia Federal Appeals Judge has been nicknamed “Scalito”, because his judicial philosophy invites comparisons with Justice Antonin Scalia, one of the two most conservative members of America’s highest court.

Harry Reid, the Democrats’ leader in the Senate, said that nominating Mr Alito to replace Sandra Day O’Connor, a swing voter on social issues such as abortion and affirmative action, would cause “a lot of problems”. He said that Mr Bush would be making a mistake by settling on a hardliner to appease the far right in his party.

Others said to be under consideration include Federal Appeals Court judges J. Michael Luttig, Karen Williams, Priscilla Owen, Janice Rogers Brown and Alice Batchelder, as well as Michigan Supreme Court Justice Maura Corrigan.

Arlen Specter, the Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said that anyone suspected by Democrats of being anti-abortion would cause problems.

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