I think I 've finally decided how I feel about Harriet Miers as a potential SCOTUS resident--and my conclusion doesn't really involve her at all. Let me explain.
For the past week and a half I've absorbed all of the criticism and defense of Miss Miers in efforts to form my own thoughts. I've also fretted that I haven't posted anything on the topic here before now. Yet, it was only today that my feelings crystalized. Here's my position on Miers--I'm Supremely disappointed that Bush didn't nominate to the Court one of the Conservative powerhouses that we all hung our hopes on. I do, however, fully expect Miss Miers to be a reliable conservative vote on the Court if confirmed, and I have little doubt that she will. She just won't be a legal giant whose writings we will study for generations to come (i.e. Scalia). For those reasons, I have decided to be solidly ambivalent on Miss Miers. Charming, huh?
But here's why I think President Bush did nominate the best candidate after all. For about six months now, things have been coming to a head among Conservatives. There are just so many No Child Left Behind Acts, Campaign Finance Reforms, and annus budgetus giganticus(es) that one can take. Yet, placation has been delivered via near-permanent tax cuts, national defense, and solid moral stands. Then came the Katrina rebuilding debacle, and the Conservative frustration levee was breached. Harriet Miers was simply insult to injury. Conservatives who did not want to gamble on a former Lottery Commissioner but demanded a known quantity simply revolted. The last ten days have seen more fur fly on the right side of the aisle than the previous five years combined! And there in lies the brillance of the President's choice.
Since about 1998, when the honeymoon of taking back power gave way to actually having to implement those Contract with America principles, too many Republicans have been coasting along on the theory that being Republican meant being Conservative and that as long as they weren't Democrats, they were bulletproof from the sniping of the base. Not any more. I am overjoyed that true Conservatives have taken Republicans to the woodshed this month over spending excesses, Constitutional ignorances, immigration, etc. It was high time that we Conservatives asserted ourselves rather than simply being satisfied that Republicans hold the Congress and White House. The fight to bring to bear the principles we hold dear does not end when an (R) is glued on the door of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and the Capitol Dome. It took the Miers nomination for Conservatives to erupt, and I, for one, am thrilled. These rancerous discussions are good for Conservatives, good for Republicans, and good for our country. It means the base is still alive and thinking! When President Bush convinced himself that he had made the very best pick for the O'Connor seat on the court, I don't think this was among the reasons he had in mind. As one of my favorite political commentators opined today, "this is not a Conservative crackup (as Howard Fineman puts forth) but a conservative crackdown!" I love it!
More to come...
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