Gonzalez gone?

I can't understand why, if the rumors are true, the Democrats wish to oppose Alberto Gonzalez for Attorney General. The purported reason--Gonzalez's (alleged) support for torture--is not credible. No rational DC insider thinks the pick of Attorney General will make one whit of difference in the Bush Administration's detainee policy.

Furthermore, there are several negatives to this fight.

1) The Bush people could spin the Dems as being anti-Latino, so the Dems are playing with fire.

2) The more the Dems play up how we treat the prisoners we've captured, the more the Bush people can claim the Dems are soft on terror.

3) It's silly not to give the President the cabinet he wants. He can always talk to whomever he pleases, anyway. The Bush people can try to spin the Dems' actions as obstructionist.

4) Gonzalez is as good as they'll get. The guy is essentially a liberal, supporting affirmative action and abortion rights. They should help him out, try to get him on the Supreme Court where he'll be another Souter.

So I admit I'm confused, since I don't think the Dems believe they've got a popular takedown here. Here are the counter-arguments I've heard.

1) This is a warning shot. The Dems are saying "this is what we do to a guy we like--wait till you nominate someone we hate." It's also a dry run for a serious fight.

2) This is a symbolic gesture as a sop to part of their base. It's easier than actually doing something, such as passing actual laws against torture, which they'd do if they really cared.

3) They smell Bush is weak and losing support even within his party, and want to keep the pressure on.

Still, I think they're making a mistake.