It’s Judge Mukasey

As has been rumored over the last few days, it looks like former federal Judge Michael Mukasey will be nominated to replace Alberto Gonzales as Attorney General. The White House has distributed background information on Mukasey to Republican Senate aides.
From the outside, it looks as though President Bush backed down on nominating Ted Olson after Harry Reid said he would do everything possible to block him. Judge Mukasey is expected to be much easier to confirm. Even so, the confirmation hearings will consist largely of speeches by Democratic Senators, rehashing the mostly fictitious shortcomings of the Justice Department under Gonzales.
President Bush must have decided that he didn’t want a major confirmation battle at this time. I’m sure he has reasons for that judgment, but it isn’t obvious that a confirmation fight over a highly qualified nominee like Olson would have been a bad thing.
PAUL adds: It’s clear to me that such a fight would have been a good thing.
UPDATE: At the Forum, AJshooter says:

I thinkthe real reason Ted Olson is out of the running is because he is holding out to be Attorney General in a Giuliani administration.

Could be.
FURTHER UPDATE: The title of this news story, Bush Picks Mukasey As Attorney General, far overstates what the article actually says. But it does appear that Judge Mukasey will be the nominee.
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