"The president is planning to announce two nominations for those vacancies before he leaves for Crawford at the end of the month," he predicted. "I've been told that the White House has told certain people to keep their calendars clear for July 26 and 27."

Kristol said sources "close to the White House and at the Justice Department" have told him that "the president wants to nominate Attorney General Gonzales to be chief justice."

The well-connected commentator predicted that tapping a moderate like Gonzales to head the court would "demoralize" Bush's conservative base, which has waged a 30-year battle to change the ideological balance of the high court.

"I think if the president nominates Gonzales, it will be disastrous for the Republican Party," Kristol said. "It will have a bad effect on the Bush administration for the rest of its term."

He contended that a Gonzales nomination would be "the equivalent of the [1990] budget deal," when Bush's father reneged on his promise not to raise taxes.

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