He will be confirmed, though with several fewer votes than John Roberts received. Then, at some point, thoughtful Democrats will wake up to the huge blunder they made with respect to Harriet Miers. They so craved an embarassment for President Bush, they let her twist in the wind as conservative pressure mounted and forced her withdrawal. So instead of a Supreme Court Justice who might become a kind of centrist–a little conservatism here, a little liberalism there–they get Alito, who adds additional firepower to the Roberts-Scalia-Thomas wing. In other words, Miers was probably the very best Democrats could hope for from this administration. Instead of trying to save her nomination, they sat on the sidelines and watched it collapse. The result is before us now. Good news for us, bad news for them.