Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has critics on the left and right but he's as popular as ever with the one-man constituency that matters most: President Bush, the Associated Press reported today. Their closeness and Gonzales' Hispanic heritage have again placed him among leading contenders for a job on the Supreme Court, according to the AP.
Bush has given Gonzales five different jobs in the past 10 years, starting in Texas as the top lawyer to the governor. He became the nation's first Hispanic attorney general in February.
The prospect of a lifetime appointment to the high court has renewed concerns among both liberals and conservatives, the story said. If anything, conservatives have been far more pointed, questioning Gonzales' views on abortion and affirmative action.
AP reported that Manuel Miranda, former counsel to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, said conservatives have indications from the White House that Gonzales indeed is being talked about for a seat on the court, much to their consternation.
The president has jokingly stirred speculation over his fellow Texan, saying this week the list of potential nominees "is wide open, which should create some good speculation here in Washington," according to the story.
Then Bush looked across the table in the White House Cabinet Room and added, "Make sure you notice when I said that, I looked right at Al Gonzales, who can really create speculation."
Gonzales has deflected questions about his interest in the job and whether he is being seriously considered.
He has acknowledged critics have a right to their opinion, but in the next breath said he's concerned only about one man's assessment.
"I'm primarily worried about what does the president think," Gonzales said in an interview with AP in July, after Bush had nominated John Roberts to the court, but before Chief Justice William Rehnquist's death created a second vacancy.
Gonzales also casually acknowledged his closeness to Bush when asked whether the president had interviewed him for a court seat. "I think the president interviewed folks that he felt he needed to interview to get to know and assess their qualifications," he said in the article.
Rehnquist's death makes Bush the first president with two openings to fill at the same time since Richard Nixon in 1971.
According to AP, other possible replacements include federal appellate judges Edith Clement, Edith Hollan Jones and Emilio Garza. Also mentioned are judges J. Michael Luttig, Samuel A. Alito Jr., James Harvie Wilkinson III and Michael McConnell, and former Solicitor General Theodore Olson, lawyer Miguel Estrada and former deputy attorney general Larry Thompson.
