NYT: Choice of Gonzales May Blaze a Trail for the High Court

By ELISABETH BUMILLER and NEIL A. LEWIS

WASHINGTON, Nov. 11 - Republicans close to the White House said on Thursday that the choice of Alberto R. Gonzales as attorney general was part of a political strategy to bolster Mr. Gonzales's credentials with conservatives and position him for a possible Supreme Court appointment.

These Republicans said Mr. Gonzales had been widely viewed as one of President Bush's top choices for the court. But by first sending him to the Justice Department, they said, Mr. Bush could then nominate a conservative favored by his political base to fill the first vacancy that arises.

For Mr. Gonzales, tenure as attorney general would allow him to demonstrate his reliability to conservative leaders, many of whom say they are unsure of his views on issues like abortion and affirmative action, Republicans said. One Republican said Mr. Gonzales's nomination hearings in Congress would also "get out of the way'' the debate over legal memorandums that Mr. Gonzales supervised as White House counsel. Civil rights groups say memorandums about the treatment of captured terrorism suspects appeared to endorse the torture of some prisoners and opened the door to abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

The strategy, which Republicans said was in large part the work of Karl Rove, the president's chief political adviser, would clear the way for Mr. Bush to make his first nomination to the Supreme Court a trusted conservative, thus showing gratitude to his political base for the large role they played in giving him a second term.

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http://nytimes.com/2004/11/12/politics/12cabinet.html?hp&ex=1100235600&en=e9435b8e8c6b3c42&ei=5094&partner=homepage

:kick:

now look at this article with the article that says Hispanics Applaud Gonzales Nomination in mind, and tell me how thats not spin. Theres three Hispanic's in this house who see Gonzalez as a front, and he got screwed by his boss like he deserves.

before it's too late.

... when I heard Bush appointed him as AG, instead of going straight for the Supreme Court. The AG spot is just a resume-builder for Gonzales, and Bush is positioning him for one of the 3-4 Supreme Court appointments to be made over the next 4 1/2 years.