Bush ducks a fight
Things I knew about Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers before President Bush revealed her as his surprise choice today:
. . .
Things I now know:
1) Miers, the White House counsel, has no judicial experience, which is worrisome, but her background as a big-firm partner and a former Dallas city councilwoman could reinfuse the Court with the touch of real-world pragmatism that it'll lose upon the departure of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, a former state senator.
2) A great way to get Bush to nominate you for a job is to head his candidate search. It worked for Dick Cheney, and now it's paid off for Miers, too. Being a lifelong Texan doesn't hurt, either.
3) Miers' politics aren't entirely clear at first glance. She once referred to Bush as "the most brilliant man she had ever met," but she also gave $1,000 to Democrat Al Gore's presidential campaign in 1988. Also, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., reportedly lobbied Bush to consider a Miers nomination.
4) Many conservatives are outraged that Bush didn't tap a better-known nominee who would force a battle over judicial philosophy. Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol, for one, said the nomination left him "disappointed, depressed, and demoralized." Miers' views on key issues remain largely a mystery, but it's tough not to conclude that Bush's plummeting poll numbers led him to pick a less controversial nominee than he otherwise might have.
. . .
Things I now know:
1) Miers, the White House counsel, has no judicial experience, which is worrisome, but her background as a big-firm partner and a former Dallas city councilwoman could reinfuse the Court with the touch of real-world pragmatism that it'll lose upon the departure of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, a former state senator.
2) A great way to get Bush to nominate you for a job is to head his candidate search. It worked for Dick Cheney, and now it's paid off for Miers, too. Being a lifelong Texan doesn't hurt, either.
3) Miers' politics aren't entirely clear at first glance. She once referred to Bush as "the most brilliant man she had ever met," but she also gave $1,000 to Democrat Al Gore's presidential campaign in 1988. Also, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., reportedly lobbied Bush to consider a Miers nomination.
4) Many conservatives are outraged that Bush didn't tap a better-known nominee who would force a battle over judicial philosophy. Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol, for one, said the nomination left him "disappointed, depressed, and demoralized." Miers' views on key issues remain largely a mystery, but it's tough not to conclude that Bush's plummeting poll numbers led him to pick a less controversial nominee than he otherwise might have.
posted by Alabamian at 3:25 PM
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