SCOTUS is a but disheveled right now. Justice O'Connor announced her retirement several weeks ago. Bush nominated John Roberts for the slot. Over the weekend, Chief Justice Rehnquist died and left another open slot. Bush moved Roberts to fill the Rehnquist slot but he's still got to cover the first one now. He jokingly suggested today that Attorney General Gonzalez might be his man for the job.

It's not surprising, Gonzalez would be a good "politically correct" candidate for the job. He's hispanic and he's one of Bush's men. He fits the mark nicely. I do like the fact that he pisses off evangelicals but that could be a facade too. We shall see.

Here's an article I picked up on the NYT:

President Bush said Tuesday that his list of candidates to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor was "wide open," and he jokingly but pointedly singled out Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales.

Mr. Bush's mention of Mr. Gonzales as a possibility, in comments to reporters at the end of a cabinet meeting, fueled concern among conservatives, who were already mobilizing against the attorney general. Conservatives say that Mr. Gonzales has not shown himself to be sufficiently opposed to abortion rights and that nominating him would miss an opportunity to move the court fundamentally to the right.

Mr. Bush said that he had yet to make up his mind and that he would "take a good, long look at who should replace Justice O'Connor." But he mentioned only one name, that of Mr. Gonzales, a longtime friend and aide who, if nominated and confirmed, would be the first Hispanic on the court.

"The list is wide open, which should create some good speculation here in Washington," Mr. Bush said to laughter in the Cabinet Room, with the attorney general sitting directly across from him. "And make sure you notice when I said that, I looked right at Al Gonzales, who can really create speculation."

The president's remark came as the Senate delayed until next week confirmation hearings for Judge John G. Roberts Jr., who had been nominated to fill Justice O'Connor's seat but who was selected by Mr. Bush on Monday as his nominee for chief justice after William H. Rehnquist died on Saturday. The hearings on Judge Roberts's nomination to Justice O'Connor's seat had been scheduled to begin Tuesday.

The White House has already signaled that Mr. Bush will not announce a selection of a new replacement for Justice O'Connor this week. The president went further on Tuesday, suggesting that he would hold off on a selection at least until Judge Roberts's nomination reached the Senate floor, if not until he was confirmed.

Response

There's more to the story but it's clear Gonzalez is at least in the thought process. Many would like to see the president nominate a woman also but as to who, we can only speculate. We do still have Roberts to get through.

posted by Stithmeister @ 8:13 PM
 
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