Miers Withdraws

Today, Miers has decided to call it quits...obvious speculation is that she was asked by Bush to resign under pressure from the conservative wing of the party. True, Bush was under pressure from conservatives, but that alone did not change things in my opinion. Conservative opposition was important, but so was the emerging picture of Democrats ready to torpedo her nomination in order to deal Bush a political blow. With support from Capitol Hill waning it became increasingly clear that Miers would not make it.

My guess is that she likely saw the writing on the wall and the White House was willing to be bailed out on this one. If I were Miers and I knew that Conservative Republican senators had no confidence in me or my nomination and Democratic senators would be seeking to sink my nomination to deal Bush a political setback, and both had begin to coalece around accusations about my competance, I would certainly begin to have second thoughts about going through the process. Furthermore, in this context the hearings began to look more and more like the potential for both sides to engage in a game of human pinata. Who would seek to put themselves through this? Thus, I will not immediately subscribe to the cynical view that she was asked to resign by Bush. However, I also believe the White House was more than willing for her to step aside given the forboding future ahead. Below is the AP story, complete with "objective" speculation as to what really happened.

Don't let the story fool you, Democratic senators, the very ones quoted in the story were having doubts and were ready to pounce on Miers...


"WASHINGTON - Under withering attack from conservatives,

President Bush abandoned his push to put loyalist Harriet Miers on the Supreme Court and promised a quick replacement Thursday. Democrats accused him of bowing to the "radical right wing of the Republican Party."

The White House said Miers had withdrawn because of senators' demands to see internal documents related to her role as counsel to the president. But politics played a larger role: Bush's conservative backers had doubts about her ideological purity, and Democrats had little incentive to help the nominee or the embattled GOP president.
"Let's move on," said Republican Sen. Trent Lott of Mississippi. "In a month, who will remember the name Harriet Miers?"....

....Bush blamed the Senate for her demise.
"It is clear that senators would not be satisfied until they gained access to internal documents concerning advice provided during her tenure at the White House — disclosures that would undermine a president's ability to receive candid counsel," the president said shortly before leaving for Florida to assess hurricane damage.
There were few regrets on Capitol Hill, from either party. Republicans control 55 of the Senate's 100 seats, but several GOP lawmakers were wavering on Miers amid intense lobbying from conservative interest groups.
Republicans and Democrats alike questioned her qualifications — Miers had never served as a judge — and Bush faced charges of cronyism for tapping his former personal lawyer for the highest court in the land.
Frist spoke with White House chief of staff Andy Card Wednesday night and offered a "frank assessment of the situation," Frist spokesman Bob Stevenson said. Coincidentally or not, Miers told Bush of her plans the same night.
"Somebody probably pulled her aside and said, 'Harriet, it's going to be a terrible experience and why go through with it, because they've already made up their minds,'" said Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, who blasted conservative groups for undermining the nominee. Other lawmakers welcomed the move.

Read the rest of the AP story....