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WASHINGTON - Sen. Orrin Hatch said Sunday that the confirmation hearing for John G. Roberts Jr. should go as planned, despite the death of Chief Justice William Rehnquist, and he is prepared for the possibility of a bruising fight.

"You bet these hearings ought to go forward. I think Bill Rehnquist would be the first to say they ought to go forward," Hatch told CNN's "Late Edition." "He wants the court to be as well-constituted as it can be (when it convenes) on the first Monday in October. I think we ought to do that in his memory."

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., however, said with the nation reeling from the destruction of Hurricane Katrina and the additional news of Rehnquist's death, the Senate ought to postpone the hearing.

"Out of respect for the memory of Chief Justice Rehnquist and in fairness to those whose lives continue to be devastated by Katrina, the Senate should not commence a Supreme Court confirmation hearing this Tuesday," Reid said in a statement. "A brief postponement will not disadvantage anyone."

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said in a statement after Rehnquist's death that he would discuss postponement with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., but there was no decision announced Sunday.

As the Senate prepares for its first confirmation hearing for the high court in 11 years, Hatch has been working closely with the White House and Specter, offering his advice and helping to plot strategy for shepherding Roberts through the process.

Opposition: But Republicans may need Hatch to be a bulldog in the hearings to fend off Democrats' criticism, said Sean Rushton, executive director of the conservative Committee For Justice.

"We need some, I wouldn't say attack dogs, but we do need some people to defend the nominee strongly and hopefully call the other side when they're acting improperly," said Rushton, "and I think now that he's not chairman anymore and bound to etiquette, I do think Senator Hatch will take on some of that role."

Over the course of several upcoming hearings, Democrats are expected to press Roberts on his views on abortion, civil rights, women's issues and environmental protections.

What remains unclear is the extent to which Roberts will answer such lines of questioning.

Hatch and others have urged Roberts not to answer questions on issues that may come before the court and limit responses to his legal philosophy.

"He's going to have to abide by the canons of judicial ethics, which basically state you never discuss things which might come up before your court in the future," Hatch said, meaning he should refuse to answer specific questions, "no matter how much they badger him or say they aren't going to vote for him."

More than two dozen groups have announced opposition to Roberts' nomination, including the NAACP and NARAL Pro-Choice America.

"John Roberts would endanger much of the progress made by the nation in civil rights over the past half-century," said Ralph Neas, president of the liberal group People For The American Way. "If John Roberts replaces Sandra Day O'Connor, the balance of the court will shift to the right for decades to come, imperiling Americans' constitutional rights and liberties."

Senate opposition has been more tepid, with Democrats reserving judgment, although tough questioning is expected from Democrats like Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy, New York Sen. Charles Schumer and Illinois Sen. Richard Durbin.

"There are a number of Democrats I chat with who think it's a big, big mistake for Democrats to try to smear him or attack him ungraciously," Hatch said. "But then again there are others who believe they have to attack him, if nothing more than to prepare for the next nominee, to try to influence the president so they'll appoint a more moderate nominee."

Bruising hearing: Hatch says he is prepared for the possibility of a bruising hearing, arguing that Democrats have not shied away from beating up on nominees while Republicans have been more deferential.

"We have a different attitude about this and we believe literally that they should be treated with respect and not be demeaned and we don't have a litmus test on abortion, so there's a real difference," Hatch said, noting several recent Republican nominees "have had to go through some pretty scorching stuff."

Indeed, recent hearings for Republican nominees have been more contentious, but so were the nominees. In his book, Square Peg, Hatch writes about how he recommended that President Clinton nominate Stephen Breyer and Ruth Bader Ginsberg, the last two Democratic nominees, who had easy confirmation hearings.

"I expect it to be rough. We're taking nothing for granted," said Rushton. "I think he will be confirmed, but he will be confirmed because the Republicans have the [majority]."

Tuesday's initial hearing is expected to primarily lay the groundwork for later rounds of questioning. Republicans will have former Attorney General William Barr, National Collegiate Athletic Association lawyer Elsa Cole, two members of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights introducing Roberts to the committee and vouching for his character.

Democrats will counter with several witnesses of their own, including former Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Carol Browner; former President Nixon's White House Counsel John Dean; Georgia Rep. John Lewis, who was a leader in the Civil Rights movement; and Marcia Greenberger, president and founder of the National Women's Law Center.

Last week, thousands of pages of unreleased documents from Roberts' tenure under President Reagan surfaced, prompting Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., to accuse the White House of failing "to live up to its promise to produce all relevant files" and setting "an unsettling pattern of secrecy."

Hatch argued the Bush administration has produced close to 75,000 pages of documents on the Roberts nomination.

"I think you're going to find no matter what you do you're not going to please some of the Democrats," Hatch said. "No nominee in history has had to go through this kind of scrutiny or this type of demanding of documents."