WASHINGTON - Stunned by conservative opposition to Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers, President Bush next week will bring in former justices from her home state of Texas to trumpet her qualifications for the nation's highest court.
The event is part of an administration effort to refine its push for Miers after its initial strategy failed to quiet opposition from members of the president's own party.
The Republican critics, who suggest Bush passed over candidates with long records of conservative rulings from the bench, say that if the White House strategy continues to amount to a "trust me" message, they'll continue to grumble.
On Friday, press secretary Scott McClellan repeatedly used the words "qualified" and "well-qualified" to defend Miers and say she deserved a fair hearing from the Senate Judiciary Committee. Conservative opponents say emphasizing her resume is part of a new White House tack.
The White House has sought to dampen opposition from the GOP's right flank by noting that Miers attended an evangelical church in Texas that is almost universally anti-abortion. Earlier this week, the president spoke of how religion is part of her life.
That only inflamed some critics, rubbing against the grain of judicial conservatism — the idea that judges should strictly interpret the Constitution and that their opinions should not be colored by personal beliefs.
Talk about changing your PR strategy. If at first, your supporters don't believe in you saying 'Trust me,' then try hauling in former Texas judges who will rehash the same White House PR script. The problem here is that Bush has alienated his conservative right-wing base. The right-wingnuts were expecting Bush to select a hard-liner with strong ideological views to tip the Court further right, and to overturn Roe verses Wade. The White House knew there was no way Senate Democrats were going to allow such an ideologue to the Court--the Senate Democrats would filibuster such a nominee, forcing a nuclear showdown in Congress that would further weaken the president. So Bush chose this relative unknown lawyer on the basis of personal loyalties to himself, rather than judicial qualifications. And now he's been forced to defend his choice against his own base, including bringing up Miers' religious faith to convince the religious right of Meirs social conservativism. And since the president has brought Miers religious views into the public debate, this only adds ammunition to the Democrats when the Senate confirmation hearings take place.
But the right-wing base still doesn't believe the White House PR spin. According to the story:
The National Pro-Life Action Center on Friday called on Bush to withdraw his "ill-advised" nomination. Gary Bauer, a leading conservative, wrote his supporters on Friday: "The nomination of Harriet Miers has split conservatives unlike anything I can remember. The debate will not end, in fact it will become more intense."
The conservative National Review magazine said that Miers should withdraw her own nomination and that the White House should "start over."
The magazine argued that while Miers' supporters say her conservatism is reflected in her work to pick federal judges, most of that work was completed before she became White House counsel eight months ago. Moreover, the magazine said, claims that she is anti-abortion or an evangelical Christian do not make for a reliable guide to judicial opinions she might write.
"The fact that her supporters have had to resort to such weak defenses and, worse, to pleasant generalities about her kindness to her colleagues and name-calling about her critics' alleged sexism is perhaps the most distressing evidence that no stronger arguments are available on behalf of this nomination," the magazine said.
So now President Bush is bringing in these Texas judges to vouch for Miers. As this talk of convincing the right-wingnuts continues on, more information will start to surface on Miers' ideology--both good and bad, depending on what side of the political spectrum you're on. The Texas judges will try to convince the right-wingnuts that Miers can be just as hard-line and ideological as they wanted from the more famous ideological candidates. As this infighting between conservatives continues on, more of Miers past and her ideology may become known, giving new issues and charges that Senate Democrats can use against Miers. The "stealth candidate" that the White House had hoped for is becoming more and more visible. If Miers is an ideologue, then the greater visibility will certainly cause a fight in the Senate, possibly compromising the White House plan for a quick confirmation and the goal of packing the Court.
Let the fun continue on....
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