The AG Bush Needs

"In other words, it's a different page than the one typically found in the Bush playbook -- a change Democrats welcomed, with some going as far as to hope it was the beginning of a new day in this, the seventh year of the president's administration. . . .

"The president has made a habit of relying on those he trusts over strangers, whether it was appointing Condoleezza Rice as secretary of state, trying to put Harriet Miers on the Supreme Court or turning to Alberto Gonzales, the man Mukasey is nominated to replace, as attorney general.

"But there are signs that this time, the White House has other things on its mind (Iraq and the economy being just two) and is not spoiling for a fight."

Tom Raum of the Associated Press sees the continuation of a trend: "Mukasey's nomination follows a second-term pattern for Bush that is becoming more pronounced: nominating seasoned individuals who command wide bipartisan respect, often to replace highly partisan and divisive officeholders.

"That includes Robert Gates, who replaced Donald Rumsfeld at the Pentagon; Wall Street veteran Henry Paulson as Treasury secretary, following John Snow; and Robert Zoellick at the World Bank, replacing Paul Wolfowitz, one of the original architects of the Iraq war.

"'In his first term, there were three criteria. Loyalty, loyalty and loyalty. The fourth, which occasionally came in, was competence,' said Stephen Wayne, a political scientist at Georgetown University. 'At this point, I think he wants people who will basically support his administration and have decent credentials.'"

But First: Turn Over the Documents

Sheryl Gay Stolberg and David M. Herszenhorn write in the New York Times: "Two Senate Democrats warned Monday that the Judiciary Committee would delay confirmation of President Bush's choice for attorney general unless the White House turned over documents that the panel was seeking for several investigations. . . .

"Senators Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont and Charles E. Schumer of New York -- vowed on Monday to use the nomination to extract information from a reluctant White House.

"'All I want is the material we need to ask some questions about the former attorney general's conduct, on torture and warrantless wiretapping, so we can legitimately ask, "Here's what was done in the past, what will you do?"' Mr. Leahy, the Judiciary Committee chairman, said. . . .

"The White House wants Mr. Mukasey confirmed by Oct. 8, when the Senate leaves for its next recess. But Mr. Leahy said there would be no quick confirmation without the documents. He said he had told the White House counsel, Fred F. Fielding, that 'cooperation with the White House would be central' to scheduling hearings."

Abramowitz and Eggen, however, report that "White House officials said they will not give in to such pressure. . . . 'No' was the answer one senior adviser gave when asked whether the White House is willing to tie the nomination to the production of such documents."

Richard B. Schmitt explains in the Los Angeles Times: "For months, the Bush administration and Democrats have been deadlocked over documents that could shed light on the role the White House played last year in the firing of nine U.S. attorneys. Democrats view the purge as politically motivated.