Republican staff sending this around:

1) Not since 1971 with Rehnquist has a nominee been held over.
2) Republicans didn’t hold over Justice Ginsburg or Justice Breyer, and the Democrats have no excuse to delay Alito.
3) We have a deal to move the nominee forward in a timely manner – the Leader and Chairman Specter have made it clear that they expect an up-or-down vote by January 20. They have extended every courtesy and made every effort to accommodate the minority.
4) It’s been 77 days since Judge Alito’s nomination and there is no excuse to delay this nominee.
5) Judge Alito is one of the most experienced and qualified Supreme Court nominees ever, earning the ABA’s highest rating for his Supreme Court nomination – unanimous “well qualified” – which the Democrats have called the Gold Standard for measuring a nominee’s integrity, competence and judicial temperament.