US set for blistering battle in quest to name top judge

In Congress, on courthouse steps and in newsrooms across America, the buzz was that one of the nine Supreme Court judges was about to resign.

It seemed to make sense that it would be Chief Justice William Rehnquist, a staunchly conservative octogenarian whose struggle with throat cancer has left him frail and barely able to speak.

But the announcement two weeks ago that it was swing-voter Sandra Day O'Connor, a moderate who has rejected political and religious ideologies and kept the bench centred, has sparked what is likely to be a bruising succession contest. Her departure creates the first Supreme Court vacancy in 11 years.

The task of nominating her replacement rests with President George W. Bush. But the task of confirming that choice rests with the Senate, where Democrats have the power to block any nomination they consider too conservative.

'We are contemplating how we are going to go to war over this,' third-ranking Democratic Senator Charles Schumer, and also a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, was overheard telling a colleague last week.

The Supreme Court is the United States' most powerful judicial institution, shaping the social landscape with landmark rulings such as Brown vs Board of Education in 1954, which abolished racial segregation in schools, and Roe vs Wade in 1973, which legalised abortion.