The White House’s Gonzales Dilemma

During the early days of television there was a commercial that ended with this sentence: “What’s a mother to do?”

You might say that applies also the Bush administration as it ponders what to do about Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

At first blush, it’s an easy choice: Gonzales is under intense fire from Congress over his handling (and role) in the firing of Republican prosecutors who it is widely suspected were booted out because they a) were looking into possible wrongdoing by Republicans and/or b) were not moving fast enough or enthusiastically enough to go after Democrats. So he should just step down and it’d be all settled. Or would it?

Now (as this is being written) there is a NEW document dump going on — more copies of emails that will provide the Congress, the news media and Democrats with hours of reading enjoyment. And if you think this offers clear-cut choices, >U.S. News & World Report has this item on its blog that underscores how the furor over the firings — a news story largely uncovered and developed by the Talking Points Memo blog — has adversely impacted the already-battered Bush administration.

According to U.S. News, fear that communications will be turned over has “paralyzed department officials’ ability to communicate effectively and respond in unison to the crisis. ” — that coupled with the fact that “senior Justice officials themselves say they still don’t know the entire story about what happened that led to the crisis.” That may or may not be true (the “senior Justice officials” do have a motivation to express puzzlement. But here’s the most interesting part of the piece:

The paralysis will affect the calculations that Gonzales must make this week as to whether he should stay or go. If Gonzales doesn’t resign, there’s little doubt that he will get few of his initiatives through for the rest of his tenure and that his people will spend months churning out documents at the behest of angry Democrats who will be investigating virtually anything that moves. But this could also give Gonzales an exit strategy, officials say. He could say that while neither he nor his subordinates did anything wrong, he has decided to resign for the greater good of the department and for justice at large.

That does seem the likely course. Admit no wrongdoing — just quit and say it’s for President and country. AND:

The Bush administration is making its own calibrated calculations. A stubbornly loyal individual, the president has had trouble cutting his ties to his embattled cabinet secretaries. However, if he chooses to keep Gonzales on, he is at risk of seriously eroding political capital at a time when his administration is being criticized even by party loyalists.

In fact, Bush’s political capital is down so low he may soon regret having pressed for bankruptcy reform. MORE:

But if he decides to let him go, then who can fill Gonzales’s place? For one thing, who would want the job? And who could Bush find that could get Senate confirmation, since Democrats now run the show? It would have to be a seasoned insider, a consummate veteran or an elder statesman who has bipartisan respect and acceptance and a squeaky-clean record

Most of the names floated so far seem to be of administration stalwarts. And, indeed, the history of people who fill the Attorney General’s post in most administrations is peppered with Presidents picking friendly associates. JFK even picked his own brother. (Is Jeb Bush job hunting these days?)

No matter what, the administration now faces difficulties on several fronts:

–What to do about Gonzales. Reports suggest he’s Political Dead Man Walking.
–How to frame his exit so it does not do more political damage to the administration (not an easy task).
–Who to get who can be confirmed by the Senate and also go into office with respect. The model for this may be the replacement of tarnished Secretary of Defense by the widely-respected Robert Gates. Will Bush 43 have to get someone close to Bush 41 again?

Whoever it is, it has to be someone who’ll allow the administration to put as much of this crisis behind itself as possible — a nearly impossible task since investigations will most assuredly follow on why the prosecutors were fired and the status of the investigations they were pursuing, or of the validity of the investigations Republicans had clamored for them to pursue.

It’s yet another indication of an administration scrambling to do damage control.

And of a wounded administration facing credibility problems on several fronts.

ALSO OF INTEREST:
McClatchy: Support for Gonzales appears to collapse
Politico: White House Has Begun Hunt For Gonzales’ Replacement