Drudge: Bush considering Thomas for Chief Justice

Drudge is reporting that Bush is considering naming Justice Thomas as Chief Justice in the event Rehnquist steps down.

As much as I admire Thomas, this seems like a bad idea. Why have two fights over Supreme Court nominations at the same time, for Chief and for Thomas's replacement? (If an Associate Justice is named Chief, he must be nominated and confirmed again for that post.) A better strategy would be to nominate a Thomas-like judge directly as Chief Justice, limiting the confirmation battles to one.

The only reason to invite two battles is that the nominee for Associate Justice is someone who would not cause a confirmation battle. And I don't want anyone who won't cause a battle.