Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito

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Alito, bespectacled, hair askew, suit rumpled and ill-fitting, walked into Sen. Tim Johnson's office this week to pay a courtesy call on the South Dakota Democrat. Sitting in an armchair in the senator's office, Alito forgot to unbutton his suit jacket, causing his tie to stick out and his jacket to bunch up. The judge's trouser leg hiked up as he sat, revealing an untied shoelace

"Ever been to South Dakota?" Johnson asked.

"No," Alito replied, adding quickly, "but I've always wanted to."

At Yale Law School, he was the wonk whose notes other students borrowed. "Quiet," "shy" and "reserved" are the words that law school friend Dennis Grzezinski provided to The Washington Post's Laura Blumenfeld. When it came to the party scene, "Sam could well have been the designated driver."

In recent years, Alito insisted on wearing a baseball uniform while coaching Little League. As an appellate judge, he hung in his chambers a large poster of former Philadelphia Phillies star Mike Schmidt. He went to baseball fantasy camp and had a baseball card made of himself.

Alito has the disadvantage of following John Roberts, who was just as smart but carried himself like a big man on campus: athletic build, quick humor and good looks. Compared with Roberts, Alito looks as if he were in town for a "Star Trek" convention.

In the office of Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, when cameras and microphones got too close, the nominee pushed himself deeper into his seat. Leaving a meeting with Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., Alito reached to shake the senator's hand then quickly pulled it back when sensing that Nelson was not ready. Greeting Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., Alito stood in the reception room clasping and unclasping his hands, then rubbing his right index finger.

Leaving the office of Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., on Wednesday, Alito caught his foot in carpeting and briefly stumbled while getting in the elevator.

When he walks between visits, Alito arches his back and stretches his neck. His arms swing from too-short sleeves, which expose his wrists. Wearing a fixed grin, he bobs his head to right and left so frequently that reporters following him have dubbed him a "Bobblehead."

The nominee walks in almost complete silence between stops, unrecognized by passing tourists, rarely conversing even with his White House handlers as they wait for elevators. His public words are perfunctory.

"Very good meeting," he said, leaving Johnson's office.

"Can you stop and talk to us?" a TV producer called out.

Alito looked stricken. "No," he said. "But it was a very good meeting."

My mom's an attorney, and my dad's company does a lot of work for attorneys. I know a couple who are diagnosed with AS, and a bunch that should be.

I find that many of the really brilliant attorneys, the ones that end up as professors or judges, are Aspie-ish. They love knowing all the rules. They don't become big corporate attorneys or criminal attorneys because there's so much emotion and gladhanding involved. They just want to know the rules, and they have no time for nonsense.

Alito may very well be on our team. He sounds like it. Wouldn't that be cool?