Eric Holder's challenge

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Given the trauma inflicted on the Justice Department by "loyal Bushies" -- meddling by political operatives, the clumsy and politically motivated firing of U.S. attorneys, a partisan litmus test for nonpolitical positions -- Obama would have been wiser to follow the Ford-Levi precedent. Since he chose not to, the burden on Holder is to convince the Senate that he won't be a kinder, gentler (and smarter) Alberto R. Gonzales.

On one issue -- Holder's involvement in President Clinton's pardon of fugitive financier Marc Rich -- that promise must accompany an explanation of why he didn't try to thwart an outrageous abuse of executive power. But that error isn't disqualifying if Holder can demonstrate that he has learned a lesson and recognizes that the attorney general is the people's lawyer, not the president's lawyer.

That will require more than generalized assurances. The Senate should press Holder on the following questions: Will he continue Atty. Gen. Michael B. Mukasey's https:// www.truthout.org/article/mukasey-limits-agencys-contacts-with-white-house "> www.truthout.org/article/mukasey-limits-agencys-contacts-with-white-house of limiting contacts between Justice and the White House in connection with ongoing investigations? Will he resist pressure from political operatives or patronage-hungry senators to dismiss outstanding U.S. attorneys? Will he be straightforward about his own views, such as whether he considers waterboarding torture (a question dodged by Mukasey at his confirmation hearings)?

Positive answers can't erase Holder's past political activity; they can demonstrate that he is determined to leave his previous role outside the door of the attorney general's office.