Signs of Division Within GOP on Supreme Court Nominations

It seems that the more moderate, or perhaps simply the more pragmatic wing of the Republican Party has begun to quiet the calls from the religious right to oppose Attorney General Alberto Gonzales's potential nomination to the Supreme Court. While many of Gonzales's opponents have cited that his nomination could create party division, it seems that their opposition is doing exactly that.
In an article on AMERICAblog, blogger Joe writes that "the theocrats want their payback and will not be quiet". It strikes many as absurd that conservatives would worry about the President's ability to appoint a judge that fits their definition of a "strict constructionist". However, the word in the New York Times is that "Gonzales is Spanish for Souter", a current justice who has consistently sided with the liberal wing of the court.
Nonetheless, these are different times. At the time of the Souter nomination, the president was less conservative, the Democrats controlled Congress, and the religious right was a far less potent force in American politics. Today, the Republicans have a comfortable ten seat advantage in the senate and the current president discusses the issues of abortion, affirmative action, and prayer in school (most important to social conservatives). Nevertheless, the thought of the centrist seat occupied by O'Connor being replaced with another moderate is too painful for many conservatives to take without protest.