[Cicero]

This is the acid test. What Bush does in the fight to replace O'Connor will be more important than anything else he has done in office, even the War on Terror.

There can be no War on Terror if our country is ruled by unelected activist judges, who keep cutting the constitution out from under our feet. NOTHING is more important than to restore the rule of law to our country.

Nominating Gonzalez would be the death of any good will Bush has earned among social conservatives. Small lapses can be forgiven, but this would be a gigantic step in the wrong direction, an unforgiveable betrayal of the base who turned out to work and vote for him in the last three elections. It would kill the conservative revival dead, and give the White House to hillary on a silver platter.

[farmer18th]

Nominating Gonzalez would be the death of any good will Bush has earned among social conservatives

Couldn't he just make up for that by sending George Sr. off to golf with Pat Robertson?

I'll pray that Bush does the right thing, but I don't think the Bush family have any convictions about anything. It's hard to act on principle when you don't have any.

[coffeebreak]

I'm glad you used lower case on that awful noun, hillary :)

[1Old Pro]

This is the acid test. What Bush does in the fight to replace O'Connor will be more important than anything else he has done in office, even the War on Terror.

This is an acid test alright, an acid test to see if the moderate GOP senators will back their President's important decisions. If the moderates go squishy they should be defeated at the polls.

[nikos1121]

Does anyone have any proof or inkling that Bush will nominate Gonzalez?

[montag813]

There can be no War on Terror if our country is ruled by unelected activist judges

One could argue that this is the TRUE "war on terror". Terrorists on the bench.

[Ghost of Philip Marlowe]

I mostly agree with your post. But I don't think I would put any of the big three issues (WOT, border control, judicial activism) above the other others. I tend to see each as a leg on a three-legged stool. They are all important. If any one of them is undercut by anti-national actions, the entire structure will crumble.