WASHINGTON -- Supreme Court nominee Samuel A. Alito Jr. received the American Bar Association's highest rating of "well-qualified" yesterday, five days before the Senate Judiciary Committee begins hearings on his confirmation.

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Liberal groups dismissed the ABA rating as an evaluation of Judge Alito's legal skills, not his judicial philosophy, and escalated their effort to portray him as an extremist. Meanwhile, pro- and anti-Alito groups were preparing to broadcast advertisements to sway public opinion.

The ABA's Standing Committee on Judiciary voted 14-0 -- with one member not participating -- to bestow the "well-qualified" label on Judge Alito, a 15-year veteran of the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The rating is based on the candidate's "integrity, professional competence and judicial temperament" as discerned through interviews and an analysis of his opinions by legal scholars. Other possible ratings are "qualified" and "not qualified." Last year, before the Senate confirmation hearings for Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., the ABA also awarded the "well-qualified" rating on him.

Judge Alito's foes called the ABA rating irrelevant. "Given Samuel Alito's extensive experience as an appellate judge, it is no surprise that he received a well-qualified rating, since no one questions his abilities as a judge," said Ralph Neas, president of People for the American Way. "We, and hundreds of law professors, and millions of Americans, believe that intellect and experience alone are not enough to earn a lifetime seat on the nation's highest court."

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Tex., a Judiciary Committee member who is expected to be a point man for the Alito nomination, criticized what he called "hard-left groups" for discounting the ABA rating. "It seems that, for some, qualifications, experience and temperament are less important than adherence to a liberal ideology," he said.

University of Richmond law professor Carl Tobias said the glowing ABA rating for Judge Alito was not a surprise and was unlikely to affect the debate over the nominee's views. "It is a strong endorsement," he said. "The question is: How relevant is it? Someone who was on the 3 rd Circuit for a decade and a half and has done a good job is likely to get this rating."

As the ABA was publicizing its rating, People for the American Way and another anti-Alito group, the Alliance for Justice, released voluminous reports designed to portray him, in the Alliance's words, as a "nominee determined to reshape the law and drive the Supreme Court sharply to the right."

While both reports revisited cases that have been cited by Alito foes for several weeks, a new wrinkle in the People for the American Way report was the suggestion that Judge Alito's belief in a strong Executive Branch makes him ill-suited for the court at a time of "electronic surveillance of U.S. citizens inside our borders without any judicial approval."

Responding to the People for the American Way report, Christian Myers, executive director of Progress for America, said: "Americans are smart enough to know that the non-partisan American Bar Association has more credibility than a coalition of liberal extremists when it comes to evaluating Judge Alito's record."