Bush gets several plusses from this. First and foremost, he gets to win the confirmation of the next Chief Justice without expending any further political capital (he already spent much of what little he had left on Roberts initially).

Second, and this can't be overstated, he's going to get a conservative, young Chief Justice who can exercise all the powers of that office for the next 20-30 years.

Third, he's saved from criticism that he either ignored nominees that were better suited than Roberts when he was first chosen (by definition, if someone that was passed over for Roberts originally is named for Rehnquist's seat, doesn't that mean that Roberts was not the most qualified nominee available when he was initially chosen? This way, Bush's aides can argue that Roberts has always, obviously been the most qualified person in America to serve on the court, and he's still considered to be the most qualified and able candidate by the President. This isn't a great pro-Roberts argument, but it simultaneously stifles a potential anti-Bush argument before it can be employed.

Fourth, Roberts is a fairly well-known individual by now. The Rehnquist vacancy is happening during the midst of an unprecedented national crisis that requires the full attention of most of the President's top advisors. This means that these advisors, like Dan Bartlett, Karl Rove, and Karen Hughes (not to mention Cheney) will probably not be focused on picking the next nominee for the bench. I'd imagine that this was the easiest nomination to make, since Roberts has already been vetted and is a likely confirmation--Bush would never forgive himself if he unwittingly created the next John Paul Stevens and handed him the keys to the Judiciary. This eliminates that possibility.

Now he just has to worry about choosing the next Associate Justice and I'll be amazed if this one isn't one for his legacy. As a bonus, he only has to go through this process once to get two vacancies filled. I don't know if that makes this a good idea or not, but it seems to eliminate a few oportunities Bush otherwise would have had to screw up and lose one of his nominees. Maybe that's more valuable to the administration than we thought.

While I was out partying when the news about Rehnquist came about, students started shouting over the party noise, saying "The CHIEF justice died! Roe v. Wade is over!" It was quite amusing and something I felt would only occur at select collegiate institutions. However, since that moment and then when I heard that Roberts is nominated for the spot, I have been thinking about what side of the fence I want to fall on and realized the best thing for me right now is to keep an open mind and not become an expatriot, just yet. Perhaps Robert's inexperience in the court will relieve him from any preconcieved notions about people involved or the processes itself. Perhaps, having someone with little experience, could be the best thing for the Supreme Court, just to allow a breath of new thoughts and ideas flow into something, that I feel can get very stagnant. While, Roberts is a conservative, he is also sworn into a position of trying to be fair. I think all we have right now for the future of America in many different ways, is to have a bit of hope, that it all will work out. Of course this is a less critical way of looking at things than I usually do, at a time when all idealism could be easily lost, lets put that glimmer of hope back into our eyes, that Roberts will be eager to do a thorough and complete job as Chief Justice, and could become a great leader in the next thirty years of our country.