After a week of Judicial Committee debates and various public appearances, Senate Democrats have finally laid out their game plan in opposition to the confirmation of Judge Samuel A. Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In an unexpected move, the Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee asked for the Committee vote to be postponed until this coming Tuesday — seeking more time to present their objections to Alito’s testimony of the previous week. Republicans, like Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), were angered by the Democrats’ request, citing a former agreement between the parties for the vote to occur two Fridays ago. These Democrats, however, claimed no such agreement existed.

While members of both parties agree Alito will be confirmed, Democrats hope to delay his confirmation — which will be viewed as a Republican victory — for as long as possible. Ideally, they want the Senate vote to occur after the upcoming State of the Union address on Jan. 31.

In particular, Democrats expressed their concern with Alito’s views on the Supreme Court’s role as a check on executive powers during this past week’s deliberations. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, highlighted these concerns in a recent talk he gave at Georgetown Law School.

“There is no reason to believe that Judge Alito will serve as an effective check and balance on government intrusion into the lives of Americans,” he said. “Indeed, his record suggests otherwise.”

Amid the recent National Security Agency wire-tapping scandal, executive powers have become a chief interest for Democrats. Leahy posed the following questions in his speech:

“Can this president or any president order illegal spying on Americans?” he questioned the crowd. “Can this president or any president defy our laws and Constitution to hold American citizens in custody indefinitely without any court review?”

After the speedy confirmation of now Chief Justice John Roberts — who received 78 bipartisan votes — Democrats hope to highlight what they feel are ambiguous answers in Alito’s testimony. They also hope that a lengthy discussion of Alito’s opinions will persuade the country that his views do not match their own. Three Democrats who voted to confirm Roberts have announced they would oppose Alito’s confirmation — Leahy, Ken Salazar (D-Colo.) and Max Baucus (D-Mont.).

Republicans are countering the Democrats efforts already, by running television and radio advertisements on Alito’s accomplishments and service to the country. They have targeted these spots to run specifically in states that President Bush won in the last election, but that also have at least one Democratic Senator — North Dakota, South Dakota, Louisiana and Arkansas.

Advocacy groups such as NARAL Pro-Choice America are turning their attention toward lobbying Democratic senators to filibuster the nomination, the only way Democrats could conceivably block Alito’s confirmation. Most, including Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) who appeared on CBS’s “Face the Nation” last week, don’t think a filibuster would be effective, since Republicans only need five votes to attain the 60 needed to end a filibuster. Only one Democrat, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, however, has pledged his support to Alito.

Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) expressed the urgency of the situation.

“This is the vote of a generation,” he said, “If confirmed, this nominee will have an enormous impact on our basic rights and liberties for years and even decades to come.”