On Miers-Why The Conservative Meltdown

Annie

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Nov 22, 2003
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/07/AR2005100702311.html

Yes, the writer of this is 'Captain Ed' from Captain's Quarters.

How Harriet Unleashed a Storm on the Right

By Edward Morrissey
Sunday, October 9, 2005; B03

Well, he's finally done it. By nominating White House lawyer Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court, George Bush has managed to accomplish what Al Gore, John Kerry, Tom Daschle and any number of Democratic heavyweights have been unable to do: He has cracked the Republican monolith. Split his own party activists. And how.

The president's surprise pick to replace Sandra Day O'Connor has ignited a massive debate among his former loyalists, especially in the blogosphere, where I spend a fair amount of time. Wails of betrayal are clashing with assurances of the president's brilliant strategic thinking. Meanwhile, the heavyweights of punditry drop columns like artillery shells into what already may be a conservative civil war.

The question on so many minds on the right is: What in Bork's name was Bush thinking?

You have to understand. Conservatives have dreamed for decades of reversing what we see as the court's hijacking of legislative prerogative to advance a liberal agenda. It's what fueled the drive to develop new voters for the GOP and push for a majority in Congress. And finally the political stars have aligned -- giving us a Republican White House, a solidly Republican Senate, and a Republican House to boot.

Bush himself ran on the promise that his election would guarantee Supreme Court nominations in the mold of Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas. But when he finally got an opening on the court -- whom did he pick? An unknown quantity named John Roberts. After an initial round of puzzlement over this selection, conservatives backed the nomination, even though Roberts never gave any solid indication of whether he agreed with the philosophy of judicial restraint.

It helped that we expected a second opening, which came all too quickly with Chief Justice William Rehnquist's death. But now Bush has presented us with even more of a cipher, one with no demonstrable constitutional scholarship or judicial record, and whose best qualification appears to be proximity to him. The White House hasn't publicly used Miers's evangelical religion as an argument for her conservative credentials, but her supporters haven't shown any qualms about proclaiming it a deciding factor. But since when did that represent conservatism?

The selection of Miers does represent one of Bush's core values: his loyalty to his inner circle of aides. Conservatives normally see that as a big plus, but it has its drawbacks. And Miers isn't the first possible candidate for the court to raise conservative blood pressure. Some on the right have speculated that Bush picked Miers as a payback for the trashing Alberto Gonzales has taken from the right wing since O'Connor first announced her retirement. It's no secret that Bush would like to leave office with his longtime friend and ally on the Supreme Court as the first Hispanic justice. But conservatives made it clear that they regard Gonzales as a potential David Souter, a moderate who would bend to the left the way the notorious Bush 41 nominee did almost as soon as his hand left the Bible at his swearing-in ceremony.

Most conservatives feel betrayed after working so hard to get enough Republicans elected to confirm almost any nominee. That's why heavyhitters like Paul Weyrich, Grover Norquist and others confronted the president's men about the nomination at the White House last week. Some, however, think the president's move demonstrates a hidden brilliance that may take a decade or more to yield fruit. And then there are those who think the president made a mistake, but that any attempt at correction will only compound the damage.

All you have to do is look at the blogosphere of the right to grasp the magnitude of the bomb the president has dropped. The cyberspace crowd of activists divides up into three basic camps, starting with:

The Loyalist Army. Those supporting the Miers nomination, while definitely in the minority, are betting that their high opinion of George Bush and his talent for selecting judges is still justified. Chief among the Loyalists is radio talk-show host and blogger Hugh Hewitt. A former White House attorney and constitutional law professor, Hewitt has a broad following and a reputation for good-humored but devastating debating skills. Many bloggers on the right owe much of their success to his support -- including me.

Hewitt asks people to trust Bush and provides links to just about everyone with a kind word to contribute on behalf of Miers as well. He started his campaign to combat right-wing unhappiness early on the first day of the nomination, reminding people that Miers helped Bush develop many of the legal theories the administration has used to fight terrorism at home and abroad. And he challenged conservatives to remember that they trusted Bush on other judicial nominees.

He quickly linked to a number of like-minded bloggers and writers, but with a couple of exceptions, these tend to be evangelicals -- Marvin Olasky, James Dobson and Jay Sekulow, to name a few. Conservative Catholic blogger The Anchoress doesn't get a link but mostly sides with Hewitt. As more conservatives plainly did not back Bush, Hewitt started warning about "the big sulk" and hardened his rhetoric against the opposition.

Unfortunately, the Loyalists get outnumbered pretty quickly by:

The Rebel Alliance. The bloggers who join rightist icons such as Ann Coulter, Pat Buchanan, Charles Krauthammer and Bill Kristol in opposing Miers's nomination refuse to trust Bush. Many already felt betrayed by this president on a number of issues, including his lack of initiative in securing the Southern border against illegal immigration and his signing of the McCain-Feingold campaign-finance bill even after he noted its lack of constitutional merit. These rebels don't have a plan for taking over the galaxy, but they would like to stop what they see as another Bush foul-up before it winds up like the last few "trust me" Republican Supreme Court nominees, a string starting with John Paul Stevens and ending with Souter.

While the Loyalist Army comes under the command of mostly one man, the Rebel Alliance has several nexuses in the blogosphere. Conservative commentator Michelle Malkin, The Corner at National Review Online, RedState.org and UCLA law professor Stephen Bainbridge all want to see Harriet Miers either withdrawn or defeated. Malkin has provided lots of rhetorical flourish; addressing the notion that Miers should be confirmed because of the doors she opened for women in the legal world, Malkin remarked that conservatives want established scholars on the bench, not "bellhops."

Even with its superior numbers, the Rebel Alliance has its work cut out for it. Anyone expecting George Bush to back away from a fight or to fail to come to the defense of his friends has not paid much attention over the past five years. When moderates wanted Dick Cheney dropped from the 2004 ticket, Bush openly scoffed at the suggestion. Why would he act differently now?

Most of the rebels understand that the Democrats will likely give Miers a pass, especially since Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid suggested her to Bush. No one really expects a GOP Senate caucus that essentially ran from a fight with Democrats over the abuse of the filibuster to rebel against the president on a judicial nominee who will get broad bipartisan support. Even though syndicated columnist George Will and others lobbed highly accurate and extremely damaging bombshells at Bush's position last week, the morale boost the rebels received will be short-lived.

Will the Rebel Alliance abandon Bush if they can't derail Miers's nomination? Some are arguing to do just that, saying it's necessary to purge the GOP of its moderates to ensure ideological purity. But that still appears to be a fringe position. The rebels are so far being careful to limit the fight to Miers and to avoid the longer-range targets they'll have to face if they fail here.

But some critics of the Miers nomination have thought that far ahead and want to pull conservatives back from the edge of a disastrous schism. Which brings us to the third, centrist group:

The Trench-Dwelling Dogfaces. Those of us who find ourselves torn between the unconvincing, unrelenting positivism of the Loyalists and the potentially destructive Rebel Alliance occupy a no-man's land of political tiptoeing. We spend our blogging time raising our heads out of the foxholes to note the inbound missiles coming from both sides, and wishing the war would stop -- really soon.

Despite our normal support for the president, we Dogfaces fail to recognize George Bush's supposed brilliance in naming his personal lawyer to the bench, whatever Hugh Hewitt says. Even if Miers obviously has earned Bush's trust, she just as obviously has done nothing remarkable to earn the trust of conservatives; being a mover and shaker in the American Bar Association doesn't lend her much credibility among those who have watched that group get more and more politically activist in what we view as the wrong direction. Most of us have tired of the "trust me" approach. In short, we find ourselves with some sympathy for the Rebel Alliance.

However, we also see the realistic outcome of the bloody civil war that threatens to split the GOP over what clearly is a White House blunder -- one compounded by White House adviser Ed Gillespie's charging the Rebel Alliance with "sexism" at last week's meeting. With important mid-term elections next year and at least one more Supreme Court opening likely during Bush's term, we want to avoid a party schism that could make him a prematurely lame duck and hand the Democrats an opportunity to seize control of one or both houses of Congress.

So who will prevail? All I can predict is that if Miers is confirmed, the debate will continue into the next election cycle. And with this much rage building, the mid-terms look more exciting every day.
 
And the storm continues. Lots of links:

http://michellemalkin.com/archives/003695.htm

MIERS: BEWARE
By Michelle Malkin · October 10, 2005 08:14 AM

Check out John Hawkins' poll of conservative bloggers on the Miers nomination. Negative sentiment and uncertainty predominate.

Compare with the Washington Times' survey of Republican senators--nearly half of whom say they, too, remain unconvinced that Harriet Miers is worthy of being confirmed to the Supreme Court.

And read John Fund (go ahead, White House, call him an "elite") who writes in "Miers Remorse:"

I have changed my mind about Harriet Miers. Last Thursday, I wrote in OpinionJournal's Political Diary that "while skepticism of Ms. Miers is justified, the time is fast approaching when such expressions should be muted until the Senate hearings begin. At that point, Ms. Miers will finally be able to speak for herself."

But that was before I interviewed more than a dozen of her friends and colleagues along with political players in Texas. I came away convinced that questions about Ms. Miers should be raised now--and loudly--because she has spent her entire life avoiding giving a clear picture of herself...​

Another former Miers supporter has changed his mind. This just in from PoliPundit:

Since her nomination was announced, I’ve said that Harriet Miers should be confirmed to the Supreme Court, despite her unexciting qualifications, because she’s a conservative. Information that has come out over the last week has caused me to believe she is not a conservative. So I’m changing my position: Harriet Miers should not be confirmed by the Senate...

...Miers is a documented supporter of “diversity,” a codeword for racial discrimination. She seems to have helped create the White House’s split-the-baby position on this issue in the University of Michigan cases in 2003, that helped keep affirmative action legal.

Harriet Miers is Alberto Gonzales in a dress. I would not support the confirmation of Gonzales; so why should I support the confirmation of Miers?

Some of my fellow contributors at polipundit.com will disagree with me, as is their right. Our disagreements reflect the free-spiritedness of the modern conservative movement.

But those conservatives who disagree with me need to prove that Harriet Miers has demonstrated the sort of prickly independence that keeps, say, a Justice Clarence Thomas, squarely in the conservative camp despite years of liberal pressure. Everything I’ve read and heard about Miers tells me that she does not possess anything like the ability to resist the inevitable pressure to move towards O’Connorism once she’s installed on the Court.

Some will argue that defeating Miers in the Senate would be politically damaging to the GOP. But it would be worse for Miers to be confirmed and become another O’Connor. Miers’ confirmation would be terribly demoralizing to conservatives like me, who donate thousands of hard-earned dollars to Republican candidates every year. We did not help elect a Republican president, and 55 Republican senators, so that we could get another O’Connor on the Court.​

Read the whole thing.

***
More non-elite feedback:

From reader Paul Adomshick...(I THINK I COULD HAVE WRITTEN THIS...)

There are some claiming that those of us opposing the Miers nomination are elitists. Not only is the claim simply wrong, it shows that those using the claim aginst us have no good arguments in favor of the nomination and are resorting to name calling. You know your opponents have lost the argument when the best they can do is call you names.

I was one of the grass roots volunteers working my butt off for the President's reelection. Among those I worked with on the campaign, there was no issue that was more important than appointing the absolute best people to the Supreme Court. Never once did I hear a list of elitist qualifications or anything of the sort. The discussions always centered on picking candidates in whom we could have confidence and fight for.

It feels like I've gotten kicked in the teeth, and the guy who kicked me, along with his best buddies, are telling me I'm a jerk for not enjoying it. What's worse is that I think they actually believe I am a jerk for not enjoying it.​

From reader Greg McNinch in Tulsa, OK...

Just imagine the following people being nominated for the Supreme Court:

Lloyd Cutler
David Kendall
Bruce Lindsey
Cheryl Mills
Charles Ruff
Gregory Craig
Lanny Bruer

All of these people are probably as well if not better qualified than Harriett Miers to sit on the court yet Bill Clinton never nominated any of them because there would have been hell to pay over the completely transparent cronyism of nominating one of these people. Now George Bush has nominated his own Charles Ruff with a little David Kendall mixed in, as she is White House Counsel as well as his former personal lawyer. Qualified or not I think this woman is too close to Bush. This would be wrong with any other president and we certainly shouldn't allow one of our own to get away with it even if we are on the same team. How can we ever argue against Democratic cronyism in the future while this woman is sitting on the court for possible 20 years?

Another issue that has only been mentioned (that I have seen) by Charles Krauthammer is the recusal issue. He believes that she will need to recuse herself from many future questions of interest to the war on terror because of her work on these specific issues while in the executive branch. How many other thorny issues are there that she will need to duck? Seems like Bush wants to put a justice on the bench who has been handicapped by her previous work in the White House. Not too smart in my opinion.​

Reader Michael Yore...

Because of the vitriol coming from the Miers supporters aimed at those such as myself who are disappointed with the President's nomination of Miers, I have decided that I am no longer going to be involved in politics. I was never involved in politics prior to 9/11 because I believed it was a bunch of people who didn't care about principle, only cared about getting votes and getting elected and getting power. President Bush changed my mind about that in the way he handled 9/11 and the War on Terror. However, over the past few years, after watching the Senate Republicans back down from fights, seeing the President not be more aggressive with domestic issues and hearing Republican/Bush supporters always fall back to the "if you don't support the Republicans, you will give back power to the Democrats" excuse, I have realized that I was right about politics before.

Politics is not about doing what is best for the country or for the people. It is simply doing what is best for the Party or the politician in order for them to have the power to put forth their ideology ... whether it is best for the country or not. This Miers nomination is simply politics.

As a Conservative, I live my life by principle, not by playing politics. If the Miers supporters want me (and other Conservatives like me) back in their camp, they better start to realize this fast.​
 
Yeah, I'm sorry, I started reading this but it's just too long and too dry. Could you please summarize it for me? I'll be looking forward to hearing back from you. Thanks.
 
Hagbard Celine said:
Yeah, I'm sorry, I started reading this but it's just too long and too dry. Could you please summarize it for me? I'll be looking forward to hearing back from you. Thanks.

It's about the Supreme Court nominee, which is why regardless of who it was, albeit without Anita Hill's claims, is bound to be dry. Multiple comments on why she is NOT a good pick, from conservative POV.
 

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