President Bush has invited key lawmakers to a White House meeting this week to begin consultations on a replacement for retiring Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, officials said Friday.

The meeting, to be held Wednesday, signals the White House is moving to find a successor to O'Connor as Judge John Roberts awaits confirmation as chief justice.

Bush invited Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and Democratic leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., as well as Sen. Arlen Specter, the Pennsylvania Republican who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the panel's senior Democrat, the officials said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity, saying they were not authorized to disclose the invitations.

Bush has dangled the name of AG Alberto Gonzalez, an eminently unqualified candidate, before the media.

Bush has been prodded to name either a woman or a minority to replace O'Connor, and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' name has been mentioned.

Specter, appearing on television last weekend, urged the president not to name the attorney general, who would be the first Hispanic on the high court.

Yes, it is time for an Hispanic to be named to the Supreme Court. Ed Prado, a sitting Court of Appeals judge already appointed by Bush to the Fifth Circuit, would get bipartisan support and be confirmed unanimously.

Bush, a self-proclaimed "uniter, not a divider," however, actually seems to enjoy dividing America, and that would require a change of heart, something he lacks.