Paul Clement is to be the acting AG while waiting for a replacement for Alberto Gonzales. But a brief review of his resume convinces me he would fit the position nicely .As S.G. Clement was the administration's top lawyer at the Supreme Court. He regularly argues the most important cases.

USDOJ: OSG: Solicitor General Paul Clement (http://www.usdoj.gov/osg/aboutosg/paul_d_clementbio.htm)


Paul D. Clement is the 43rd Solicitor General of the United States. He was nominated by President George W. Bush on March 14, 2005, confirmed by the United States Senate on June 8, 2005, and took the oath of office on June 13, 2005.


Mr. Clement is a native of Cedarburg, Wisconsin, and a graduate of the Cedarburg public schools. He received his bachelor's degree summa laude from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, and a master's degree in economics from Cambridge University. He graduated magna laude from Harvard Law School where he was the Supreme Court editor of the Harvard Law Review.


Following graduation, Mr. Clement clerked for Judge Laurence H. Silberman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, and for Associate Justice Antonin Scalia of the U.S. Supreme Court. After his clerkships, he worked as an associate in the Washington, D.C. office of Kirkland & Ellis. Mr. Clement went on to serve as Chief Counsel of the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on the Constitution, Federalism and Property Rights. Afterwards, he was a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of King & Spalding, where he headed the firm's appellate practice. Mr. Clement also served from 1998 to 2004 as an Adjunct Professor at the Georgetown University Law Center, where he taught a seminar on the separation of powers.


Mr. Clement joined the Department of Justice in February of 2001. Before his confirmation as Solicitor General, he served as Acting Solicitor General for nearly a year and as Principal Deputy Solicitor General. He has argued over 40 cases before the United States Supreme Court, including McConnell v. FEC, Tennessee v. Lane, Rumsfeld v. Padilla, United States v. Booker and Gonzales v. Raich. He also argued many of the key cases in the lower courts involving challenges to the President's conduct of the war on terrorism.


He appears to be very competent . Yesterday with rumors of Chertoff being the replacement I had an image of incompetence replacing incompetence.

The only thing I find wrong is his advocacy of McCain -Feingold . But that can be attributed to a friendly relationship with Sen Russ Feingold from his home state .

EDIT

Robert Bork in an article at National Review makes the same point I made yesterday about the mine-field the Democrats will likely place in the confirmation process of the next A.G. putting emphasis on the Nixon /Elliot Richardson scenario.

Robert H. Bork on Al Gonzales on National Review Online (http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=YThjOTY1YjQxODY2MzU3ZGMwMjgxODU5MWM5NjE1ZTU=)

I say nominate him and let the sparks fly. It's not as if Bush can avoid a fight over the AG nomination. Might as well be an appointment we conservatives can live with, and that the Dems will have a hard time justifying not approving Clement. There's no reason not to nominate him.

Sparks are going to fly no matter what. DNC Executive Director Tom McMahon still thinks the US attorney firings could be "Bush's Watergate." Bork is probably right, they're going to want a special prosecutor in return for a confirmation.