COPENHAGEN — President Bush on Wednesday denounced advocacy groups on the left and right that seek to influence his choice of a Supreme Court nominee, and he insisted that he would not weigh candidates' views on specific issues.
For the second time this week, the president expressed exasperation as groups that supported his reelection worked aggressively for favorite candidates and tried to undercut others. With Bush indicating that the selection process might take weeks, the lobbying could become intense.
In remarks to reporters in Denmark before he flew to Scotland for a summit of the leading industrialized nations, the president complained in particular about the denigration of Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales by some conservative groups.
Supreme Court vacancy -- An article in Thursday's Section A about the debate over potential Supreme Court candidates said the Judicial Confirmation Network was one of the conservative groups opposed to Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales' possible nomination. The organization has not taken a position on Gonzales as a possible successor to Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.
Preparing for an anticipated fight in the Senate, the White House said that, at Bush's request, former Sen. Fred Thompson would guide the nominee through the confirmation process.
In selecting Thompson, a Tennessee Republican and actor -- he is a lawyer by training whose most recent work has him playing a crusty veteran district attorney on NBC's "Law and Order" -- Bush has chosen a celebrity whose experience with politically sensitive Senate hearings goes back to his days as a senior Republican staff member on the Senate Watergate Committee more than 30 years ago.
White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said Thompson would have an informal role, much as former Sen. John C. Danforth, a Missouri Republican, guided Clarence Thomas to confirmation by the Senate in 1991.
Bush said he had just begun reviewing top candidates for the Supreme Court seat to be vacated by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who announced Friday that she would retire.
He said he resented that some groups were attacking Gonzales, who was widely reported even before the vacancy was announced to be on the president's short list of candidates. Bush urged the Senate to join him in resisting pressure from outside organizations during the confirmation process.
"I hope the United States Senate conducts themselves in a way that brings dignity to the process, and that the senators don't listen to the special interest groups, particularly those on the extremes that are trying to exploit this opportunity for not only
Bush did not identify the organizations he had in mind, but his admonition came in response to a question about criticism of Gonzales as a potential nominee.
