Miers Withdraws
Thursday October 27, 2005
Updated 10.55 am PDT
Harriett Miers has withdrawn her embattled candidacy for theSupreme Court, citing concerns about Senate questions related to her experience in the White House and her "judicial philosophy." Her nomination had come under increasing scrutiny due to revelations that her Texas law firm had promoted lucrative tax shelters which were subsequently termed abusive by the IRS; anti-Miers ads began running on cable TV and radio; two conservative web sites began calling for her withdrawal; and Concerned Women for America, an evangelical organization, has also called for her withdrawal.
Reaction was swift. US Liberals guide Deborah White called it A Boon for Democrats, A Blessing for the Country, noting that Republicans were victims of the "indiscriminate feeding frenzy" that Democrats have experienced in recent political campaigns. In other words, Rs felt the pain of friendy fire as core constituencies turned their "mean-spirited" displeasure -- the politics of personal attack, for which Presidential advisor Karl Rove is (in)famous -- on the White House.
About guide for Women's Issues, Nikki Katz notes that this means Sandra Day O'Connor will delay her retirement; O'Connor has been the swing vote in many of the Court's 5-4 decisions. Next month, the court will "hear arguments on New Hampshire's abortion parental notification law and O'Connor is expected to vote against it."
But what does it mean for the White House? At TPM, Josh Marshall believes it limits future mainstream options:
Miers, Politics, Supreme Court
Harriett Miers has withdrawn her embattled candidacy for the
Reaction was swift. US Liberals guide Deborah White called it A Boon for Democrats, A Blessing for the Country, noting that Republicans were victims of the "indiscriminate feeding frenzy" that Democrats have experienced in recent political campaigns. In other words, Rs felt the pain of friendy fire as core constituencies turned their "mean-spirited" displeasure -- the politics of personal attack, for which Presidential advisor Karl Rove is (in)famous -- on the White House.
About guide for Women's Issues, Nikki Katz notes that this means Sandra Day O'Connor will delay her retirement; O'Connor has been the swing vote in many of the Court's 5-4 decisions. Next month, the court will "hear arguments on New Hampshire's abortion parental notification law and O'Connor is expected to vote against it."
But what does it mean for the White House? At TPM, Josh Marshall believes it limits future mainstream options:
The problem for the president -- aside from the imminent forced rearrangement of personnel -- is that each group that took a bite out of Miers will feel empowered. And those groups are so multifarious that the president's freedom of maneuver will be significantly curtailed.If this public statement is a bellweather, it's unlikely a woman could meet the CWA (and other evangelicals?) bar:
The most obvious answer is that the president needs to throw one right over the plate for his right-wing base. But which one? The DC brainiac right? The single-issue anti-abortion fundies? Certainly there are plenty of brainy circuit court judges out there who could fill the bill. But each group feels empowered now and will want to be catered to.
Two speeches in 1993 by Harriet Miers, while president of the Texas Bar Association, indicate a radical feminist worldview, a penchant for judicial activism, race and sex quotas, a liberal characterization of the abortion debate and government spending, and an inability to articulate her positions clearly.The AP has developed a list of possible nominees. However, the White House may be severely weakened by Patrick Fitzgerald's investigation. A few from the list:
- Samuel A. Alito, 55 -- "Scalia-lite" -- 15 years on the Philadelphia-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit
- Alice Batchelder, 61 - U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit, "a reliable conservative vote on abortion, affirmative action and gun control"
- Edith Brown Clement, 57 - U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit since 2001
- Maura Corrigan, 57 - Michigan Supreme Court justice; first woman to serve as chief assistant U.S. attorney in Detroit
- Alberto Gonzales, 50 - U.S. attorney general and former White House counsel.
- Edith Hollan Jones, 55 - U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit since 1985
- Michael McConnell, 50 - 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. He enjoys bipartisan support in the academic community.
- Maureen Mahoney, 50 - A lawyer in private practice; clerk for the late Justice William Rehnquist and deputy solicitor general under Kenneth Starr.
Miers, Politics, Supreme Court
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