Well, here’s one way to find out who’s seriously up for nomination to replace Gone-zo: when people say “oh no, not him“, measure the decibels…

Senate Democrats will block Ted Olson from succeeding Alberto Gonzales as attorney general if President Bush nominates him, Majority Leader Harry Reid said Wednesday.

“Ted Olson will not be confirmed,” Reid, D-Nev., said in a written statement. “I intend to do everything I can to prevent him from being confirmed as the next attorney general.”

The comment gave weight to Republican warnings that Olson, a former solicitor general, would face brutal confirmation hearings and that the White House can’t afford a fight now over who will head the troubled federal law enforcement agency.

“It would be unfortunate to nominate someone who can’t be confirmed,” Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala. and a member of the Judiciary Committee, said earlier in the day.

Unfortunate, yes.  Pig-headed?  Of course.  At the same time though, it’d be fun to watch in that tragi-comic sense that is the sole redeeming quality of politics itself — for that reason, watch him do it.  I withdraw my previous guess, this is more Bush’s speed.