Senate hearings begin today for Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito — President Bush’s pick to replace Sandra Day O’Connor on the Supreme Court. For the past 15 years Alito has served on the federal appeals court. During the 1980s he worked as an attorney in the Reagan and Bush administrations. Bush originally tapped his personal attorney — White House Counsel Harriet Miers — to replace O’Connor but Miers withdrew her nomination after coming under intense attack from the religious right. The questioning of Alito is expected to focus largely on his views on abortion, presidential power and civil rights.