Analysis: Limits on Bush's Loyalty?

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee in the U.S. Capitol in Washington Thursday, April 19, 2007 about the controversial dismissal of eight U.S. attorneys. Campaigning in 2000, Texas Gov. George W. Bush would repeatedly raise his right hand as if taking an oath and vow to "restore honor and dignity" to the White House and pledged to usher in a new era of bipartisanship. The dual themes of honesty and integrity struck a chord with many voters and helped propel Bush to the White House in one of the nation's closest-ever elections. Americans re-elected him in 2004 after he characterized himself as best suited to protect a nation at war. Now, with fewer than two years left of his second term, the Bush administration is embroiled in multiple scandals and ethics investigations. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) (Susan Walsh - AP)

WASHINGTON -- Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has fewer and fewer supporters in Washington, but he's got the one who counts. The question is: Why does President Bush back him so strongly when so many other Republicans think Gonzales should quit?

Bush's loyalty to certain aides and associates, particularly ones he brought from Texas, runs deep. It has been seen before in his strong defenses of former White House counsel Harriet Miers, whom Bush tried to seat on the Supreme Court despite her lack of judicial experience, and in political adviser Karl Rove, the target of many Democratic-run investigations.

Beyond loyalty, there's another Bush personality trait at play that most people now recognize: stubbornness. After all, polls show as many as two-thirds of people oppose the war in Iraq, but that hasn't stopped Bush from aggressively pursuing it and putting himself into a veto battle with the Democratic-controlled Congress.

He clearly doesn't like to back down.

Bush's loyalty has extended to some non-Texans as well, including his dogged support _ for a time _ for Donald Rumsfeld at the Pentagon. And for World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz, one of the original architects of the Iraq war and now the center of a controversy over a pay-and-promotion package Wolfowitz crafted for his girlfriend, a fellow bank employee.

Bush has also strongly backed Vice President Dick Cheney against vigorous criticism.

The president is sticking with Gonzales, in defiance of rising Republican calls for his resignation, "to reward him for a form of loyal service," said Bruce Buchanan, a University of Texas political scientist and longtime Bush watcher.

"What Gonzales is now doing is protecting the administration by essentially taking the heat for being the person that's forgotten everything and can't get his story straight," Buchanan said.

As awkward as that may seem, it also helps insulate Rove, Buchanan suggested.

If Rove is the one who orchestrated the firing of eight U.S. prosecutors _ bungled steps that led to the current criticism of Gonzales _ then the attorney general's halting testimony last week to the Senate Judiciary Committee helped to blur any direct links between Rove and the firings.

The committee is investigating whether the U.S. attorneys were dumped primarily for political reasons, to be replaced by more compliant successors. The prosecutors serve at the pleasure of the president but traditionally have been given wide latitude in administering justice without political interference.

Rove could be subpoenaed, but that could trigger a lengthy legal battle extending beyond the end of Bush's term in early 2009.