"Every chink in the armor, every flaw, gets magnified" on the Internet, said Tony Mauro, a reporter with the National Law Journal who has covered the Supreme Court for nearly 30 years. The Web makes what would otherwise be normal criticism or flaws seem "like deal breakers," he said.

In the last battle over a Supreme Court nominee, conservatives roundly criticized President Bush's choice of Harriet Miers and forced her to withdraw; liberals then attempted to filibuster Samuel Alito's nomination, charging that he was too far to the right. As the legal and political blogs have grown in influence since 2005, Mauro said, the mainstream media, in turn, has acknowledged their higher profile. It only seems natural that the process will be much more intense this time around, he said.

Indeed, the Web has woven itself into nearly every part of politics and policy since the 2008 presidential campaign.

"It really depends on who the nominee is," said Nan Aron, president of the left-leaning Alliance For Justice. "We'll have some idea once the announcement is made to really gauge how much public interest there will be in the nomination. But, having said that, this is the time -- when there's a Supreme Court opening -- to reach out to as many people across the country and educate them about the importance of judges and federal judges at all levels." AFJ sends out an e-mail to its online supporters at least once a week, Aron said, and the group will undoubtedly take to its Justice Watch and Nonprofit and Foundation Advocacy blogs once a nomination is announced.

Americans United For Life says it has already seen an overwhelming response from its online supporters in discussions anticipating a nominee. "We had to upgrade the back end of our computer operation because we've seen such an outpouring of interest being more active on these issues," said Charmaine Yoest, the anti-abortion group's president. Her organization echoes a common concern on the right that Obama will nominate a judicial activist who will trigger a "dramatic shift in public understanding of the role of the courts," Yoest said. "When you go down the path of accepting judicial activism as the norm, that dramatically increases the amount of power judges have."

Yoest said her group will be ready to go right out of the gate once a nominee is announced. She said its "robust" online advocacy program, Facebook community and new IT system will mean "better, faster and cheaper" communication with supporters. "We're ready whenever they bring it out," she said. "There won't be a huge delay."