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November 19, 2004/Kislev 6 5765, Vol. 57, No. 12
Jews: Justice pick less controversial
RON KAMPEAS
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
WASHINGTON - For some national Jewish groups, Alberto Gonzales already has one thing in his favor as he enters a tough confirmation battle as President Bush's second attorney general: He isn't John Ashcroft.
Ashcroft was extreme in his policies and advanced an agenda that was "antithetical to the National Council of Jewish Women's positions on issues," said Sammie Moshenberg, director of NCJW's Washington office.
NCJW is still assessing Gonzales, but Moshenberg - and other Jewish leaders who insisted on speaking off the record - said Gonzales was unlikely to face the same level of opposition Ashcroft did.
"Ashcroft was the exception, not the rule," Moshenberg said.
"We will have to review his record very carefully, but I can tell you already he's a better candidate than John Ashcroft," said Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.).
As a Texas Supreme Court justice - who was appointed by then-Gov. George W. Bush - Gonzales earned a reputation as a relative moderate.
But some aspects of his service as White House counsel in the last administration troubled human-rights groups.
They charge that Gonzales' description, in an internal memo in the lead-up to the Iraq war, of the Geneva Conventions as "quaint" and "obsolete" helped promote a lax culture that culminated in the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison.
Additionally, Gonzales consulted with Bush on nominations of profoundly conservative judges to federal courts.
Gonzales' endorsement from the Christian Coalition also won't win him points with some Jewish groups.
Some of Gonzales' pluses - his ethnic background and the fact he is seen as less of an ideologue - will help him overcome the avid opposition Ashcroft inspired.
Bush emphasized Gonzales' background as one of eight children of Mexican migrant workers, a nod to Hispanic Americans who voted for Bush in considerably greater numbers than they did in 2000.
While Jewish voters also gave Bush more support in 2004, it was predominantly because of his foreign policy rather than his social and domestic policy priorities.
Staff Writer Matthew E. Berger in Washington contributed to this report.
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