Former Attorney General Ed Meese at Immigration Reform Press Conference, originally uploaded by Rob Bluey.

Alberto Gonzales will step down as U.S. attorney general in less than a month, ending (at least temporarily) the Democrats’ witch hunt. Gonzales never really won the admiration of conservatives as his predeccessor, John Ashcroft, did. Gonzales’ pro-choice court rulings in Texas and his support for giving amnesty to illegal aliens won him few fans on the right. And despite his solid work in the area of national security, he simply didn’t have the support he needed to continue.

Although I may not have agreed with every move he made, I respected him for his service to our country. The same can’t be said of congressional Democrats, who subjected him to nasty attacks. That’s why I’m glad President Bush said this morning that Gonzales’s “good name was dragged through the mud for political reasons.” Now that he’s leaving, it’ll be up to someone new to deal with the Democrats’ demands. Who might that man or woman be?

My colleague Todd Gaziano, a former DOJ staffer in the Office of Legal Counsel, doesn’t name any names, but he does spell out the attributes the person must possess in this Natinoal Review symposium. Fortunately for President Bush, Gaziano writes, he has to look just across town to find the right characteristics. Former Attorney General Ed Meese is a model example, as Gaziano sees it.

My inspiration for the above job description is my Heritage colleague (and Ronald Reagan’s second attorney general) Ed Meese. Lest you think I’m sucking up to my superior who runs our department, I’m sure he would not approve of me suggesting he actually be called back to serve as AG. (Lucky for me, he’s out of the country today.) Heritage senior management would also be upset at me if he actually left. And Ed’s wonderful wife Ursula would probably not approve either. Nevertheless, the profile of Ed Meese above suggests that if the President should look beyond his current inner circle, he may find someone who is at least as loyal and who brings a level of stature and experience that can’t be matched inside the administration.

The job will be filled on an interim basis by Paul Clement, and then after that it’s anyone’s guess. Speculation in Washington has Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff as the favorite with White House anti-terrorism adviser Fran Townsend and former Solicitor General Ted Olsen also as possibilities.

Whomever it might be, I don’t envy the person. It won’t be an easy job to fill, which is why, as Gaziano writes, it’ll take a “disarmingly nice person” to do it.

UPDATE — 5:21 p.m.: The best suggestion I’ve seen for replacing Gonzales is former Missouri Sen. Jim Talent. Of course, I’m biased when I echo Kate O’Beirne’s idea because Talent works down the hall from me here at Heritage.