Top Senate Democrat Says Gonzales Qualified for Supreme Court

From the Associated Press:

LAS VEGAS (July 6) - President Bush on Wednesday assailed critics of potential Supreme Court nominee Alberto Gonzales, from the political right as well as the left. The Senate's top Democrat said the attorney general was qualified but wouldn't necessarily get ''an easy way through'' confirmation.

Even before Justice Sandra Day O'Connor announced her plans to retire, some conservatives had begun warning Bush about selecting Gonzales, the former White House counsel, objecting to his record on abortion and affirmative action.

Liberals, meanwhile, have expressed reservations about Gonzales' decisions on detainee treatment, death penalty cases and executive privilege.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., a frequent critic of the president, said Gonzales had the credentials to sit on the court, but he indicated confirmation might not be smooth.

This is about as close of an endorsement you're going to get from the Democrats on any of Bush's possible Supreme Court nominees.

Gonzales is a wildcard here. Liberals don't like him because of his decisions in death penalty cases when he was on the Texas State Supreme Court, his work in reasoning that it was legal for the U.S. to torture Gitmo prisoners, and certainly because of his close friendship with President Bush. Conservatives don't like him because of his decisions on abortion in the Texas Supreme Court. You have to wonder if both sides of the political spectrum hate Gonzales, then perhaps he could be a somewhat palatable replacement for Sandra Day O'Conner.

But Gonzales should not be a shoo-in for confirmation. The Democrats should certainly pick apart his record and decisions, grilling him hard on his views and his way of thinking. Certainly one issue to ask of Gonzales is if he's going to be an independently thinking judge, or will he start cozying up to the president and provide decisions beneficial to the White House? Will Gonzales become a political hack to the president--providing loyalty to the Bush agenda in exchange for a position on the Supreme Court? That is a question the Democrats must investigate and resolve.