One of the biggest concerns the Left had about Bush's next nominee was that - like Roberts - he or she would be a "stealth" nominee. That is to say they feared getting a nominee without a record of decisions or public statements. For this would would make it very difficult to portray that nominee to the American public as "extreme".

Well, they got stealth in spades here. While her legal credentials are OK, she has never been a judge. And Roberts already reinforced the Ginsberg precedent of not commenting on specific cases.

So where does that leave the Left? First and foremost expect them to paint Miers as a Bush crony who will be influenced by her loyalty to the President when deciding any case. It's already started. The Washington Post, in its article announcing Miers' nomination reports that here Bush is "reaching into his loyal inner circle for another pick that could reshape the nation's judiciary for years to come." But Team Bush was very wise in their timing of the announcement. This morning he sprung the news so that people on their morning commute would hear his remarks as well as those of Miers, emotion clearly in her voice. And more importantly, the audience of all the morning shows got to see Bush introduce her and present a woman with a remarkable personal story.

And that audience, of course, was the women of America.

Personally, I'm not sure how I feel about the pick. I hate for this to sound like the NFL draft, but based on what little information I have, I'd say it's an "average" pick. But this remains to be seen.

If the Liberal special interest groups (and those Senators that they have on a short leash) follow suit, expect the strategy to focus on the uncertainty of where Miers stands on particular issues (i.e., Roe) and how dangerous that is. Will she "turn back the clock"? You'll hear a lot of that.

They will try to be as pre-emptive as possible. This will probably backfire on them because of the hooting and howling they've done in the recent past.

Posted by: Gary at 08:58 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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