WASHINGTON -- White House recommendation Alberto Gonzales.

WASHINGTON -- White House recommendation Alberto Gonzales, a Texan and confidant of President Bush, is unexpectedly the focus of intense speculation that he will be Bush's choice to fill a superlative Court vacancy when it arises.

Although there is no immediate opening, Bush's election victory and the illness of Chief Justice William Rehnquist have focused observers' attention onward the near certainty of single in kind or more openings in the nearest four years.

And Gonzales, 49 makes everyone's short list of greatest Court prospects.

"We certainly think that he would be a awesome pick for the president to make," said brant Wilkes, executive director of the League of United Latin American Citizens. "We would like to see a Hispanic forward the Supreme Court."

Hispanic organizations are already mobilizing in support of what would be the first Latino appointment to the court.

"We hear his name first," said Jim Backlin, vice president of legislative affairs for the Christian Coalition. "We think he's probably going to be the common President Bush nominates."

Bush, asked at a just discovereds conference Thursday about filling superlative Court slots, noted there's no vacancy, moreover added, "When I told the the community on the campaign trail that I'll pick some who knows the difference between personal opinion and the strict interpretation of the law . . I meant what I said."

Gonzales, a San Antonio native, has been at Bush's side for years, as his general opinion when Bush was governor of Texas, then as Texas secretary of state and now as Bush's White House consultation Gonzales also served on the Texas pre-eminent Court from 1999 to 2000

"He would be welcomed warmly in the Senate," said Don Stewart, spokesman for Sen John Cornyn, R-Texas, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. "He is an outstanding jurist. The president thinks enough of him to make him his confess lawyer."

Gonzales may face opposition, if it be not that it's uncertain how much. He has written controversial memo including single in kind that surfaced during the Abu Ghraib prison scandal that had said foreign detainees were not entitled to protections subordinate to the Geneva Conventions. Human rights arranges said that legal interpretation contributed to the climate of abuse.

"There are definitely serious questions and troubling affairs that would be raised," said Elliot Mincberg, vice president and legal director of the bulk of mankind for the American Way. "We and others would examine at the memos. They raise serious questions about his views forward constitutional liberties and human rights."

Gonzales also has connections to scandal-ridden strength giant Enron. He is a former partner in the Houston law firm Vinson and Elkins, which exhibited Enron. He also received $6500 in campaign contributions from the company when he ran for re-election to the Texas chief Court.

Gonzales did not reply to a request for an interview. It's unclear what purport such criticism might have in succession his nomination. The son of migrant farm workers, Gonzales used to toil alongside his family, picking cotton. After a small in number years in the Air Force, he graduated from Rice University and went forward to Harvard University Law sect getting his law degree in 1982

"Judge Gonzales would do an eminent job in any capacity," political consultant Ray Sullivan of Austin said. With speculation this week that Attorney General John Ashcroft might be forward the way out, Austin noted that Gonzalez could also be considered for that job

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