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WASHINGTON (AP) -- The lawyer who argued the Supreme Court case that decided the election for President Bush is the leading candidate to be the administration's advocate before the high court, several people close to the selection process said Monday.
Theodore Olson is expected to be named solicitor general as soon as this week, after a Senate vote on the nomination of John Ashcroft to be attorney general, lawyers and Olson friends said. All spoke on condition of anonymity.
"Ted has it unofficially," a lawyer familiar with the selection process said.
The Senate may vote on Ashcroft's nomination Thursday. Some other political jobs at the Justice Department, including solicitor general, are on hold pending the outcome, another source close to the Bush selection process said.
Olson declined comment Monday. Bush spokesman Scott McClellan also declined to comment.
Olson argued for Bush both times the Supreme Court heard cases arising from the disputed Florida election, including the case that stopped ballot recounts and effectively handed the election to Bush on Dec. 12. He also argued a separate constitutional challenge to recounts in Florida that was superseded by the Supreme Court's 5-4 decision.
Olson has long experience with Republican politics and conservative causes. He is a former law partner and close friend of former Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr and handled negotiations between Monica Lewinsky and ABC before the former White House intern sat for an interview with Barbara Walters.
He assisted Paula Jones' legal team and represented Whitewater figure David Hale during Senate hearings into the Clintons' role in the Arkansas land deal.
Olson's wife, lawyer Barbara Olson, is a frequent conservative commentator on television, and author of a highly critical book on Hillary Rodham Clinton, for which her husband wrote a promotional blurb.
Olson came to Washington in 1981 to work in Ronald Reagan's Justice Department, and later represented the former president during the Iran-Contra scandal.
That resume should help deflect criticism that the solicitor general's job, if it goes to Olson, is payback for the Bush v. Gore case, several lawyers said.
"He's so long in Republican circles and carrying water for the party, he'll be on their radar screen naturally," said Mary Cheh, a constitutional scholar at George Washington University. Although not a fan of his politics, Cheh called Olson "an excellent lawyer and a first-rate litigator" who would do a good job as solicitor general.
Olson has a 9-4 record before the Supreme Court, plus one draw from the first Florida election case. The high court sent that case back to the Florida Supreme Court on Dec. 4 without a ruling on its merits. One of Olson's losses was Virginia Military Institute's 1996 attempt to remain all male.
Olson, a partner in a lucrative law firm, would take a pay cut to rejoin the government. But the solicitor general, a political post freighted with ceremony and even a special courtroom costume, is a plum among constitutional lawyers.
The office decides which cases to pursue before the Supreme Court, and the solicitor general dons a morning coat to argue the most high-profile cases personally.
Olson would replace Clinton appointee Seth Waxman. Waxman's political deputy, Barbara Underwood, is serving as acting solicitor general until Bush names a replacement.
