Mukasey, mighty Mukasey

Some in the media portray President Bush's selection of Michael Mukasey as his new Attorney General as a major concession to the Democrats. The suggestion is that President Bush wanted to choose the conservative Ted Olson, but that Harry Reid's signal of firm opposition to that possible appointment warned Bush off.

But of course, there's nothing, from a principled perspective, wrong with choosing a nomineee who is "confirmable." The only thing that could be wrong with it is if the president, in seeking confirmation, chose an AG nominee completely out of step with conservative principles. I see no evidence of that. Indeed, the support for Mukasey from persons such as William Kristol suggests Mukasey will be just fine.