THE NATION - Democrats content to let Gonzales twist in wind - If he remains in office, they expect voters will focus on Bush, not the 2008 GOP nominee.
WASHINGTON — Democrats are not winning the battle to force Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales from office, stymied by a legal system that gives the Bush administration wide discretion to block investigations of itself. And they are not getting the White House witnesses or records they have demanded in recent weeks.
But many Democrats are fine with that.
Although they may prove fruitless, the Democrats' investigative efforts may help keep President Bush and his administration the center of attention in next year's elections, even as the Republican Party chooses a new standard-bearer and tries to move on.
With Congress beginning a monthlong summer recess last weekend -- and with Gonzales still entrenched at the Justice Department -- the focus is turning to the candidates and their opinions of Gonzales' tenure. Lawmakers also will hear what constituents make of the attorney general's performance.
Even if Gonzales survives until Bush leaves office, strategists hope his continued presence damages GOP candidates across the country.
"This becomes a piece of the race," said David E. Bonior, a former Michigan congressman who is managing Democrat John Edwards' presidential campaign. By highlighting Bush's allegiance to Gonzales, Democrats hope to make a point about how a Democratic administration would be different, drawing "the contrast of what we have and what we could have," Bonior said.
Gonzales has come under fire for his shifting explanations about his role in the politically charged firing last year of eight U.S. attorneys, and for his testimony about an electronic surveillance program that Bush launched after the 9/11 attacks. In that case, his statements have appeared to contradict testimony from the FBI director.
Democrats are already eyeing potential gains from the controversy in at least one battleground state, New Mexico, home to one of the U.S. attorneys whose firings sparked the congressional inquiries.
The party recently aired a radio ad linking a vulnerable Republican congresswoman there, Heather A. Wilson, to the controversy.
And one of the sponsors of a new resolution pushing for Gonzales' impeachment, Rep. Tom Udall (D-N.M.), is considering a run for the seat held by Republican Sen. Pete V. Domenici, who Democrats have said helped engineer the prosecutor's firing.
