The main name in the news is Secretary Chertoff. Do you buy that? It seems highly problematic to me. So if not him, who? Keep in mind that 1) Bush loves to appoints people who are very close to him personally to high office, and 2) he has a sense of executive power not seen since ... well, the Romanovs or the Stuarts. So whoever is named to be AG will have to support that too. I don't have any real sense of this, but if he opts to name someone who's not in his MySpace Top 8 (well, you know what I mean) names that would make sense to me are Ted Olson and Judge Raymond Randolph. And given that for the last year or two he's done little but be a White House toady I suppose Orrin Hatch is a possibility, though he seems too far removed from the president to really get the nod.
Posted by armand at August 27, 2007 08:50 PM | TrackBack | Posted to PoliticsProblematic why? Seems plausible enough from here.
Posted by: jacflash at August 27, 2007 09:35 PM | PERMALINKBecause of Katrina (this is particularly bad timing for him coming on what's more or less the anniversary of the storm), the fact that he may well be privy to various bits of Homeland Security information that the president might not want discussed in confirmation hearings, and he's probably pissed off "the base" a bit on immigration. Now of course only one base really matters to Bush, that being George W. Bush, so sure it's plausible that he'll be the nominee. But I think such hearings could be problematic, and that being the case Bush might want to find a fiercely loyal, executive branch lovin' nominee who won't be expected to discuss adminitration actions. Still, he clearly loves to promote from within, so it makes sense to say Chertoff is the favorite until we hear otherwise.
Posted by: Armand at August 27, 2007 10:10 PM | PERMALINKAnd now CNN is saying that a source says the White House is looking for a DC establishment successor - which would suggest someone like Olson or Randolph. Or maybe former Attorney General Barr? I mean he already served one President Bush as Attorney General.
Posted by: Armand at August 27, 2007 10:44 PM | PERMALINKI think by the light of morning I'm inclined to bet on Olson. I won't bet very much, though, and I may change my mind before the day is out. Olson has "gravitas", doesn't come with muck attached, and has the 9/11 sympathy card. We'll see.
Posted by: jacflash at August 28, 2007 07:45 AM | PERMALINK