President-elect Barack Obama will be the first president to have participated in Senate filibusters of judicial nominees - a distinction that conservatives say will haunt him in showdowns over anticipated nominations of liberal, activist judges to the federal bench.

Steeling themselves for battle over nominations, Senate Republicans say the president-elect's voting record and long simmering resentments over Democrats' treatment of President Bush's nominees will leave Mr. Obama hard-pressed to call for bipartisan help confirming judges or even an up-or-down vote on his picks.