July 6, 2005

The Laura factor.

Why is Bush homing in on Alberto Gonzales for the Supreme Court appointment, despite all the noisemaking by social conservatives who worry that he might not be pro-life? Maybe it's the Laura factor. Don't you think Laura Bush is telling him that he can't put someone on the Court who will vote to overturn Roe v. Wade? Appointing Gonzales is so perfect: he can pick his dear friend, he can have the distinction and the political advantage of appointing the first Hispanic Justice, he can deflect criticism from Democrats (who have to realize that Gonzales is the most liberal possible choice Bush can make) and from Republicans (who just don't have enough information to pin Gonzales down as pro-abortion), and he can do what his wife is (probably) telling him that he simply must do.

Put the Laura factor into the equation and the answer is obvious: Bush will pick Gonzales.

Found while Googling to see if anyone else was saying that: "Who influences George W. Bush?" by Howard Fineman. This is the relevant passage:
Bush has been shaped and surrounded by strong women. As he himself has said, he has had a series of them to “mother-hen me.” They include Barbara Bush, Laura Bush, Karen Hughes, Condoleeza Rice and Harriet Miers, now the White House counsel but for many years before that, his personal lawyer. (Give his daughters a few more years to mature, and they will perform the same function; they already serve as jovially merciless style critics.)

What does this have to do with the Supreme Court? Plenty: as far as I know, none of these women is “pro-life” in the strict sense – certainly Barbara and Laura Bush are not. The president has said that the country is not ready to see the overturn of Roe V. Wade. Maybe what he meant was: My Mother Hens aren’t ready. Would he want to defy them with his Supreme Court choice now?
And since Bush is replacing a woman on the Court, there is all the more reason to pay attention to what the women in his life are saying to him. And, unlike Finemen, I think those daughters are telling him plenty.

5 comments:

Jacob said...

First Hispanic Judge?

Oy vay, what is Benjamin Cardozo? Chopped liver?

Ann Althouse said...

Jacob: I know there is a current attempt to transform Cardozo retrospectively into an Hispanic, apparently to deprive Bush of a first. But he's never been so regarded in the past and I've never heard of Sephardic Jews being counted as Hispanic. Can everyone named Shapiro now check the Hispanic box on their law school admissions forms? If so, a lot of people have been ignoring an opportunity all these years, and law schools should redo their reports to U.S. News about the percentage of minority students they have.

Here's an analysis of the subject.

Tim said...

Not only because of the strong women in his life, but because of Bush's wild-oats rich past, I'm willing to think that he has--at least almost--brushed up against the prospect of dealing with an unexpected kid.

Bruce Hayden said...

Then again, this could all be misdirection. Personally, I like Gonzales as AG. He seems (IMHO) to be doing a better job than his last two predecessors.

Anonymous said...

I think Bush is defending Gonzalez now so that he will be able to pick him later on. Bush knows he has to come through this time on the Scalia/Thomas clone promise as other posters have pointed out.

But he has to nip in the bud any criticism of Gonzalez from the Right. Can't let that opposition cement now or he'll never get his buddy on the court.

As someone over at Slate pointed out: this aint' the nomination that affects Roe v. Wade. That happens with the retirement coming after Rehnquist's. THAT would be a good time to nominate Gonzalez for all the reasons Ann pointed out. Till then - aggressive conservative nominations are the order of the day.