Miers Faces Rocky Road

President Bush nominated a woman, Harriet Miers, to replace Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court, but the similarities end there. O'Connor (Stanford), who was named to the Court in 1981, practiced law before being elected an Arizona state senator, where she was the first woman in the country to be elected state senate majority leader. She had been on the bench six years when President Reagan nominated her to the Supreme Court; she was confirmed 99-0. [In comparison, Chief Justice Roberts vote was 78-22.]

Contrast her nomination with that of the president's personal attorney, who has been in private practice for almost 30 years. Whereas O'Connor was making inroads for women in the public sector, Miers (Southern Methodist University) focused strictly on business. She was the first woman president of the Dallas Bar Association and the first to head the State Bar. Then-Gov. Bush appointed her to the Texas Lottery Commission. When Alberto Gonzales became attorney general, she became White House counsel.

Little wonder, then, that there is a chorus of consternation, from conservative columnists to leading Republicans. What, they ask, has the President done? US Liberals Guide Deborah White explores how some conservative Republicans are giving Miers a taste of Swift Boat-style vitriol. Robert Novak (he of PlameGate fame) writes, in the Houston Chronicle:

The antidote to the Iraq-Katrina malaise was the spectacular confirmation performance by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., and Republicans eagerly awaited Act Two: confirmation of a successor to social liberal Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. This was one issue where the wind was at Bush's back, not in his face. But he robbed his legions of spirit with the Miers nomination....

Members of Congress describe Miers as a nice person but hardly a constitutional scholar. Indeed, she might trip over questions that Roberts handled so deftly. People who have tried to engage her in serious conversation find her politely dull.

Quotes from key conservative Republicans shine light on a very rocky and uphill road:

• Jessica Echard, executive director of the Eagle Forum:
  "We feel this is a disappointment in President Bush. If it's going to be a woman, we expected an equal heavyweight to Ruth Bader Ginsburg and her liberal stance, and we did not get that in Miss Miers."
• Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS):
  "I'm not comfortable with the nomination. Is she qualified by her experience? Is she the most qualified person? Clearly the answer to that is no."
• Sen. George Allen (R-VA):
  "There is a visceral reaction that if Harry Reid likes her, what does he know that we don't know?"
• Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) :
  "I don't need to reserve judgment because I know she's the right person for the job now."
• Conservative columnist George Will:
  "There is no evidence that she is among the leading lights of American jurisprudence, or that she possesses talents commensurate with the Supreme Court's tasks."
• William Kristol, editor of the Weekly Standard:
  "It is very hard to avoid the conclusion that President Bush flinched from a fight on constitutional philosophy. Her selection will unavoidably be judged as reflecting a combination of cronyism and capitulation on the part of the president."

Both women are Texans, but O'Connor left Texas for college, work and a new home. Miers, on the other hand, has kept her roots in Texas.

What else do we know about Miers?

• For two years, Miers served on the Dallas City Council. Her campaign manager from that race told the Dallas Morning News that Miers "underwent 'a born-again, profound experience' that caused her to oppose abortion."
• She worked to get the American Bar Association to rescind its resolution endorsing Roe v Wade, because of procedural issues not the merits of the case. She is reportedly "well-regarded by antiabortion leaders in Dallas" and has reportedly contributed to at least one antiabortion group.
• Miers is single and has no children. She left Texas to work for the Bush White House. She has been described as a "born again" Christian, converting from Catholicism to evangelical Protestantism. Her pastor since the early 1980s told the Dallas Morning News that the church opposes abortion and considers homosexuality a sin.

On Wednesday, former Republican Party chairman Ed Gillespie spoke at a weekly meeting of conservative leaders. He faced a chorus of criticism for the White House having picked a candidate who might be "another David Souter." The conservative right believes it elected the President and it expects its due: a Clarence Thomas-type conservative.

Also on Wednesday, one conservative group released a TV ad entitled Trailblazer, that endorses Miers; it is the keystone of a "$500,000 Internet, grassroots and television blitz." So far, however, positive strokes seem to pale in comparison with the outrage, angst and anger.

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