Washington ? President Bush on Wednesday defended potential Supreme Court nominee Alberto Gonzales, under attack from conservatives, as White House officials reached out to Democrats. The party’s top senator said the attorney general was qualified but would not necessarily get “an easy way through” confirmation.

Even before Justice Sandra Day O’Connor announced her plans to retire, some conservatives had begun warning Bush about selecting Gonzales, the former White House counsel. They objected to his record on abortion and affirmative action.

Liberals have expressed reservations about Gonzales’ decisions on treatment of detainees, death penalty cases and executive privilege.

At a news conference during his European trip, Bush defended Gonzales, a friend since the president’s time as Texas governor.

“I don’t like it when a friend gets criticized. I’m loyal to my friends,” Bush told reporters in Copenhagen, Denmark. “All of a sudden this fellow, who is a good public servant and a really fine person, is under fire. And so, do I like it? No, I don’t like it, at all.”

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., a frequent critic of Bush, said Gonzales had the credentials to sit on the court. But Reid indicated confirmation might not be smooth.

The Republican-controlled Senate confirmed Gonzales as attorney general by a 60-36 vote, despite complaints from Democrats that he had had a role in establishing White House policies that led to the abuse of prisoners in the terrorism fight. Gonzales would be the first Hispanic justice ever on the high court.

“Alberto Gonzales is qualified. He’s attorney general of the United States and a former Texas judge. But having said that he’s qualified, I don’t know if he’d have an easy way through,” Reid said in Las Vegas.

Some of the harshest criticism of Gonzales has come from the right, and Reid chided conservatives for that. “I think it’s too bad the president has to respond in Denmark about statements from the far right,” he said.

Bush could have more than one seat to fill if Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist also steps down this summer. Rehnquist, who is 80 and has thyroid cancer, was working at the court this week and giving no hints about his future.

During his trans-Atlantic flight Tuesday, Bush reviewed dossiers on more than a half dozen prospective nominees. He said he wanted a new justice in place when the court’s term begins in October.