UPDATED: Democrats.com: Kerry will lead filibuster against Alito!

This just in from Democrats.com, a blog:

I have confirmed reports that Kerry wants to filibuster Alito, and he is talking to his colleagues to round up the 41 votes he needs.

Only two Democrats (Ben Nelson and Tim Johnson) support Alito. Only two others (Mary Landrieu and Ken Salazar) say they oppose a filibuster, but are expected to vote against Alito.

So right now, without the support of any Republicans, we still have 41 possible votes for a filibuster. There are roughly 6 moderate Republicans who should also be targeted (Lincoln Chafee, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Bob Smith, Olympia Snowe, George Voinovich). And we should work as hard as we can to persuade Landrieu and Salazar that a vote against Alito is meaningless if they don't support a filibuster.

Democrats.com is also speculating who eight Democratic Senators are that are reportedly leaning against supporting a filibuster against Alito. Give 'em a call.

UPDATE: Senator Kerry's office confirms the story. They're putting out a release soon.