Oct. 28 (Bloomberg) -- The collapse of Harriet Miers's U.S. Supreme Court nomination creates a time crunch for conservatives eager to fill Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's seat before she can rule on cases involving abortion and assisted suicide.

Republicans say they expect President George W. Bush's next selection will have to strike a delicate balance to satisfy his political base without triggering a firefight with Democrats. The prospects include two judges, Michael W. McConnell and Diane Sykes, who won broad bipartisan support when Bush named them for appeals court slots, as well as several judges with long histories as staunch conservatives.

``To the extent that the base loves the next nominee, Democrats are going to tend to be skeptical,'' said H. Christopher Bartolomucci, a former Bush administration White House lawyer who is now a partner at Hogan & Hartson in Washington. ``You increase the degree of difficulty of getting the nominee confirmed, but let's remember there is still a Republican majority in the Senate.''

A protracted fight would leave O'Connor, often the pivotal justice on social issues, to vote on a Bush administration bid to block an Oregon law that allows doctor-assisted suicide. O'Connor, who voiced skepticism about the administration's position during arguments Oct. 5, can take part in the decision as long as she is still serving when it is issued. She has said she will remain on the court until a replacement is confirmed.

A Health Exception

If the confirmation process extends much into next year, she may have a chance to vote on the court's first abortion case since 2000. The question in the case, being argued Nov. 30, is whether states that require parental notification before a minor can get an abortion must make an exception when the procedure is needed to protect the girl's health.

O'Connor cited the lack of a health exception when she provided the deciding vote in the 2000 decision striking down Nebraska's ban on a procedure opponents call partial-birth abortion.

``The delay in confirming a successor to Justice O'Connor can certainly alter the outcomes in a few high-profile cases,'' said Bradford A. Berenson, a partner at Sidley Austin Brown & Wood in Washington and former associate White House counsel under Bush.

O'Connor, addressing a group of women's leaders in California yesterday, said her tenure now ``sounds like it may go on a little longer,'' the Associated Press reported.

A quick nomination would allow hearings as early as December, with a full Senate vote by January. That schedule could change if Senate Democrats try to throw up roadblocks. The most dramatic move would be a filibuster, a parliamentary maneuver used to block a vote.

Constitutional Philosophy

A number of administration allies say Bush shouldn't worry about Democratic opposition and instead should focus on finding a nominee with a proven record of judicial conservatism.

``When we engage on the merits of the president's constitutional philosophy, then we win,'' said Wendy Long, legal counsel for the Judicial Conference Network, an Alexandria, Virginia, group that supports Bush's nominees.

Leading candidates who meet that description include Judge Sam Alito, 55, of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Newark, New Jersey. Much like newly appointed Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., Alito has a Republican pedigree, having served in the Justice Department under the current president's father.

Two other conservative favorites include 4th Circuit Judge Michael Luttig, 51, of Alexandria, Virginia, and Houston-based 5th Circuit Judge Edith Jones, 56. All three were under consideration during previous nomination discussions.

`Judicial Maverick'

Among the possible nominees, Jones has taken the strongest stance against abortion rights, calling on the court last year to reconsider its landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.

McConnell, 50, and Sykes, 47, have seen their stock rise in recent days, in part because they might win some Democratic support. As a law professor, McConnell backed the use of vouchers at sectarian schools while opposing prayer at public school graduations. He also criticized the Roe decision.

In 2002 the Senate, then controlled by Democrats, approved McConnell by voice vote for a seat on the 10th Circuit in Salt Lake City. ``He's something of a judicial maverick, whose views coincide with conservatives on a couple of important issues, but he isn't really cut from the same cloth as the mainstream judicial conservatives,'' Berenson said.

Sykes, a Wisconsin native, had the backing of her home-state senators, Democrats Herb Kohl and Russ Feingold, when she was confirmed to the 7th Circuit last year. Both Kohl and Feingold are Judiciary Committee members who voted to confirm Roberts as chief justice in September.

Consensus Nominee

Other possibilities for Bush include 4th Circuit Judge Karen Williams, 54; 6th Circuit Judge Alice Batchelder, 61; 5th Circuit Judge Priscilla Owen, 51; Michigan Supreme Court Justice Maura D. Corrigan, 57; former Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson, 59, and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, 50.

Democrats urged Bush to seek a consensus nominee. ``An associate justice of the Supreme Court doesn't represent the right wing,'' California Senator Dianne Feinstein said. ``They represent all of the people of America.''

Republicans hold 55 of the Senate's 100 seats, five short of the number needed to end a filibuster. Republican leader Bill Frist of Tennessee said earlier this year he might seek a rule change to bar filibusters on judicial nominations. That change, dubbed the ``nuclear option'' by lawmakers, would require only a majority vote.

Earlier this year, seven Democrats and seven Republicans reached an agreement to head off a showdown on the issue. The Democrats vowed not to filibuster nominees except under ``extraordinary circumstances,'' and in return the Republicans said they wouldn't back the ``nuclear option.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Greg Stohr in Washington at gstohr@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: October 28, 2005 10:13 EDT