Alberto Gonzalez's confirmation hearing, and his nomination, very well may not be the last time Gonzalez appears before the Senate to be confirmed. He is young; he is building a powerful resume. I would not be surprised if a Supreme Court nomination follows.
Resistance now will make that confirmation tougher. Indeed, it may make it impossible -- both for political and psychological reasons. Case in point: Clarence Thomas has reportedly said privately that he is not interested in the Chief Justice position precisely because his first confirmation go-around was so trying.
We can lay the groundwork now for a victory then.
More below.
Gonzalez is building a powerful resume for the Supreme Court: partner at politically connected large law firm; counsel to the governor of Texas; state supreme court justice; Texas Secretary of State; White House counsel; and, now, Attorney General.
He is also only 49 years old.
That is why he "is often referred to as a future U.S. Supreme Court nominee."
Why fight now? Because a fight now may mean victory later. Charles Lane of the Washington Post, writing of the push to make Clarence Thomas Chief Justice, notes:
According to Thomas's friends, he has let it be known he does not relish a repeat of the 1991 confirmation hearing at which opponents aired charges that he had sexually harassed a female staffer.
"It would be another ordeal. What does he need that for?" said one close friend, who asked not to be identified. "If the president asked him, he'll say yes, but he'd much rather not be asked."
Similar problems, based on past "futile" objection by the left, might beset an attempt to nominate Justice Scalia for the top spot:
Scalia's chances for confirmation may have received a boost when Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) said in interviews after the election that he might not oppose him for chief justice "if he can overcome the ethics problems that have arisen since he was selected as a justice of the Supreme Court." That was a reference to criticism Scalia faced a year ago for going duck hunting with Vice President Cheney while the court was considering a case involving Cheney.
The Gonzalez nomination hearings are a chance to make his further ascendancy more difficult, and that is why we should fight even if it is a losing battle.
