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Purdue Professor Weighs in on Gonzales Resignation

Aug 27, 2007

A Purdue professor says the resignation of another top-level official in the Bush administration
should not change what people think about the president. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is the fourth top-level Bush administration official to eave since the Democrats were swept into power in Congress in the November elections.

For months, both Republican and Democratic critics have called on Gonzales to vacate his
seat over the handling of FBI terror investigations and the firings of eight U.S. attorneys. Purdue Political Science Professor William McLauchlan says Gonzales' resignation may not have much affect on how people view President Bush.

"But his popularity is at such a low level nationwide among democrats and republicans that I'm not sure that this is going to make much of a difference to Bush even in the short term," McLauchlan says. "In the long term, it will probably make little or no difference."

President Bush says Solicitor General Paul Clement will be acting attorney general until a replacement is found and confirmed by the Senate.