Keeping his boots on

Chief Justice Rehnquist isn't about to retire. Well, good for him.

And it's good for conservatives, too. It eliminates the two-fer option that Democrats would love to see . . . one moderate for O'Connor, one conservative for Rehnquist. This way, Bush almost certainly will acknowledge the necessity of hewing to his campaign promise to nominate justices in the mold of Justices Scalia and Thomas.

Can Chief Justice Rehnqust be unaware of this? Probably not, in my view.

Update: It seems that Doug Kmiec's analysis is gratifyingly similar to mine.