An article in the Wash Times quote several prominent Conservatives in both Washington and among the punditry who are now emboldened enough to call for President Bush to rescind Harriet Miers nomination. While I will admit that if Miers withdrew her own name, the political firestorm would be quelled somewhat and her critics perhaps satisfied, for the President to pull the nomination would be an unmitigated disaster.

1) The media would paint the President - and by extension, the Republican party - as beholden to a fringe, extreme Right-Wing element who "pulls the strings" of the GOP. This impression will take root with the great numbers of voters who really aren't paying all that much attention to this matter. It will only serve to reinforce a stereotype of the Republican party that the Left and their media enablers will use to their advantage in 2006 and 2008, by scaring off moderate/independent voters.

2) The Democrats would interpret this move as a sign of weakness on Bush's part and be emboldened to ratchet up the "borking" of any replacement nominee, no matter who it is. The bloody battle that the President may have been trying to avoid would only be intensified. If Bush has damaged the relationship with his own base, why should Democrats not kick him when he's down?

3) It's just not right. Miers deserves a hearing even if it already seems like there is nothing she could say to undo the damage done by the attacks on her, compounded by the White House's lame defense of her. Conservatives rail at Liberals for treating Republican nominees unfairly. How can they be equally unfair without being hypocritical?

In the article, Leonard Leo reminds us of the lack of leadership and conviction demonstrated by the GOP-controlled Senate last May:

"I find it highly ironic that many of the same conservatives criticizing the president's nominee were nowhere to be found when it came time to pull the trigger on filibuster reform," said Mr. Leo, adding that he wholeheartedly supports the Miers nomination. "If I'm the president, I wouldn't have a high level of confidence that my boys in the Senate can get the job done."

Posted by: Gary at 09:40 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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1 Miers has the stink of slow painful death all over her. I suspect that, in the next few weeks, the Bush-Miers loyalists will begin hedging their bets. This woman is another Souter. We'll have to live with her for many years to come. I really don't care how it's done, her name has to be withdrawn. I am a Conservative. I was a Conservative as a Democrat. I'm a Conservative as a Republican. If the Republican Party is embarrassed by how badly this has all been handled... Good. As a Conservative, I have a simple message: "Stop taking me for granted! I'm not an evangelical pro-life zealot. I'm a CONSERVATIVE! And there are many more like me." Ex-Donk, I love your site. Keep up the good work!

Posted by: Nickie Goomba at October 14, 2005 01:52 PM (9B2q6)

2 Thanks Nickie! Truth be told, if Drudge splashed "Miers Withdraws Herself" on his site this afternoon, I would breathe a sigh of relief. This bickering is pointless (great, now I sound like Governor Tarkin: "Vader, release him!). But if she doesn't withdraw (and I have no reason to think she will) I would like the GOP to ask her serious, intelligent questions about her judicial philosophy. I don't care about her personal philosophy, if she's going to vote against Roe I want it to be because it's bad law and bad precedent, not because she's pro-life. If the answers aren't good enough, they should vote her down and move on.

Posted by: Gary at October 14, 2005 02:31 PM (PLHs9)

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