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 Oct. 31 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. President George W. Bush, seeking to rebound from a failed Supreme Court nomination, chose conservative appeals court judge Samuel Alito Jr. for the seat and set up what may be a bitter battle with Senate Democrats.

Alito, 55, has a markedly different resume than that of White House Counsel Harriet Miers, whose nomination Bush withdrew last week amid opposition from conservatives. Alito is a former prosecutor and Reagan administration official with 15 years of experience on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Newark, New Jersey, and a developed record of judicial conservatism.

``He has a deep understanding of the proper roles of judges in our society,'' Bush said at the White House in Washington. ``He understands that judges are to interpret the law, not to impose their preferences or priorities on the people.''

The question for Democrats is whether they will try to block a vote on Alito's nomination. Alito would succeed retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, a pivotal vote on the court on abortion and affirmative action, and potentially shift the court to the right on social issues.

Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada said in a statement that he is ``disappointed'' in the choice. He said he wants to learn ``why those who want to pack the court with judicial activists are so much more enthusiastic about him than they were about Harriet Miers.''

Scalia Similarities

Bush withdrew Miers's nomination Oct. 27 after a month of criticism, primarily from conservatives, about her qualifications and constitutional philosophy.

Miers had never been a judge. By contrast, Alito ``has more prior judicial experience than any Supreme Court nominee in more than 70 years,'' Bush said.

Standing alongside Bush today, Alito said judges have a ``limited role'' in the American constitutional system.

``Federal judges have the duty to interpret the Constitution and the laws faithfully and fairly, to protect the constitutional rights of all Americans and to do these things with care and with restraint,'' he said.

He would be the second Italian-American on the high court, joining Justice Antonin Scalia. The similarities between the two men, both judicial conservatives, have earned Alito the nickname ``Scalito'' among some lawyers. Both men were born in Trenton, New Jersey.

One Woman Left

Alito's confirmation would leave the court with only one woman, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Bush was under pressure to name a woman or racial minority, with both first lady Laura Bush and O'Connor, the first female justice, saying they would like to see another woman on the court.

Conservatives, including those who criticized the Miers selection, hailed the nomination.

``Judge Alito has always been one of our top choices for the Supreme Court,'' said Jan LaRue, chief counsel of the conservative Concerned Woman for America in Washington. LaRue had called on the White House to withdraw the Miers nomination.

Alito is a graduate of Princeton University and Yale Law School. In the Reagan administration, he served as assistant solicitor general, arguing 12 cases before the Supreme Court, and later as deputy assistant attorney general in the Office of Legal Counsel, providing constitutional advice for the executive branch.

Appointed to Court

He served as U.S. attorney for New Jersey from 1987 to 1989. George H.W. Bush, the current president's father, appointed Alito to the Philadelphia-based 3rd Circuit in 1990.

On the 3rd Circuit, Alito played a role in two high-profile abortion disputes. In 1991, he voted to uphold Pennsylvania spousal-notification requirements that were later struck down by the Supreme Court. In 2000 he joined a three-judge court in voiding a New Jersey prohibition on a late-term procedure that opponents call partial-birth abortion. In that case, Alito said he was bound by a Supreme Court ruling.

In 1996, Alito voted in favor of restricting the power of Congress, dissenting when the 3rd Circuit upheld a federal ban on machine gun possession.

In 1999, he wrote an opinion upholding a city hall holiday display that contained a nativity scene, a menorah and secular items including plastic Santa Claus and Frosty the Snowman figures.

Democrats may try to stop the nomination by using a legislative tactic called a filibuster, or unlimited debate. They used that approach to prevent votes on 10 nominees until a bipartisan group of 14 senators crafted an agreement in May to avert a parliamentary showdown.

Under Senate rules, 60 votes -- five more than Republicans possess -- are required to shut off a filibuster. Before the May compromise, Senate Republicans had threatened to change the rules and bar filibusters. That change would require 51 votes to implement.

``It is sad that the president felt he had to pick a nominee likely to divide America instead of choosing a nominee in the mold of Sandra Day O'Connor, who would unify us,'' said Senator Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat.

 Whatever happend to herriat meirs, I mean I know that altio has all these qulifcations and such, his resume looks just as good as roberts which who we should have picked yet first pick isnt always best, that siad roberts an altio may have qulifcations but, like a robot it goes by commands and what it knows thus with qulificans the new question is will you act on what ou know or what you believe and I think it takes both so I think we need both I say we need someone between the three canidates, someone not only with a sense of mind but with a snese of heart too. so to say the least, ask your selves, is alito roberts and miers combined?