CHIEF JUSTICE CLARENCE THOMAS? ARGHHHHHHHH!

[newscaster]

oh, please god, no!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

By ANNE GEARAN, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - Clarence Thomas has been interviewed by White House lawyers as a possible choice to be the next chief justice of the United States, says the author of a new biography.

Thomas says he isn't interested but could find it hard to turn down an opportunity to be the first black man to lead the Supreme Court, said biographer Ken Foskett.

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Thomas initially refused Foskett's request for interviews, but later spoke to the author both on and off the record.

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Thomas has recovered from his bitter 1991 confirmation hearings, and is comfortable in his role on the court as a conservative iconoclast, Foskett said. Thomas is the youngest of the justices at 56 and could remain on the court for decades.
Whether he is elevated to chief justice "all depends on Bush being re-elected," Foskett said.

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Thomas' promotion to the court's top job would also depend on the exit of his boss, 79-year-old Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist.
Rehnquist is not expected to retire before the November presidential election, but might do so in a second Bush term. The White House has a short list of candidates for any Supreme Court vacancy, and has presumably interviewed several potential nominees to succeed Rehnquist.