President Bush rediscovers his mojo...

...with the nomination of Samuel Alito for the Supreme Court.

I haven't seen any poll data or even scanned the blogosphere yet this morning but I can tell you already that the President has hit a home run. During NBC's live coverage of the announcement this morning, the perky Katie Couric didn't even smile once. Rather, with her serious, solemn demeanor she looked as if she were covering Hurricane Katrina.

In reality this is a disaster for the Democrats and the MainStreamMedia. They have labored long and hard to drag down the President, only to have him bounce back and pick a bruising fight, one that they simply cannot win. Now they are faced with the politically unpleasant prospect of openly opposing a pro-life Catholic. In one brilliant move, the President has energized his base, divided the Democrats, and effectively banished the name of Scooter Libby from the front pages. Masterful.

In fact (adjusting Rovian tinfoil hat) I might even suggest that this was the plan from the start. Nominate an obviously weak Supreme Court candidate, get the Democrats smelling blood, and then pull the rug out from underneath them just as the Fitzgerald handed down his indictments. Now they not only don't have a front-page controversy to beat the Republicans with, but they also have to oppose and possibly filibuster an extremely well-qualified pro-life judge.

Hey, it could happen.