Quote Of The #2: Gonzales Gets The All-Important Kos Endorsement

by John Hawkins | July 7, 2005 6:03 am

“True, we could go ballistic if Gonzales is the nominee, especially given his love of torture, but he’s about as close a shot to another Souter that we’ll get under this administration. Precisely the reason the Far Right hates him is the reason I’d be willing to give him a pass.

He’s not perfect. He’s a Republican, after all. But given the alternatives, he may be the best of a bad lot.” — Markos Moulitsas ZĂșniga of the Daily Kos[1] endorses Alberto Gonzales

We have 55 Republican Senators and a President who made a campaign promise to nominate judges like Scalia and Thomas to the Supreme Court and yet, Bush is making it clear that he is seriously considering nominating a candidate who is supported by Kos and opposed by James Dobson[2] & National Review[3] among many, many others.

Were President Bush to break his campaign promise and betray his conservative supporters by nominating Gonzales, the fall-out has the potential to be enormous.

Instead of backing Bush’s nominee, many conservatives would undoubtedly oppose Gonzales which would put GOP candidates in a terrible position: do they stick with the President and grievously offend the base or stick with the base and grievously offend the President? This would be an unfair position to put Republican candidates into especially given that this is an issue big enough to cost GOP pols their jobs. Just ask Mike DeWine’s son, who went from 1st to 4th place in a Republican primary for a congressional seat after his father signed on to the “Gang of 14” compromise. Quite frankly, if Jeb Bush were to ever run for President, he could get exactly the same sort of backlash if Gonzales were nominated.

Last but not least, let me also add that it’s one thing to appoint a trusted friend to be a part of your administration. That’s understandable. But a seat on the Supreme Court is not only far more important than any cabinet position, it’s a lifetime job. So it’s a whole different ball game.

Given that, to put a man like Alberto Gonzales on the court — despite the fact that there are many other qualified candidates — would involve breaking a campaign promise, the base is rabidly opposed to him, and he would have to recuse himself from many important cases because of previous duties as the Attorney General — and it would smack of unprincipled cronyism that should be beneath the President of the United States.

Were Alberto Gonzales to be nominated to the SCOTUS, it would be a disaster on the court, for the Bush administration, and for the Republican Party. Given that, Bush shouldn’t even be considering sending Gonzales to the highest court in the land…

Endnotes:
  1. Daily Kos: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/7/6/224537/6889
  2. James Dobson: http://www.denverpost.com/nationworld/ci_2837613
  3. National Review: http://www.nationalreview.com/editorial/editors200506280858.asp

Source URL: https://rightwingnews.com/uncategorized/quote-of-the-2-gonzales-gets-the-allimportant-kos-endorsement/