Miers Withdraws Nomination

[desertvixen]

LJ-cut for your convenience.

Miers withdraws nomination By Steve Holland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In a new setback for President George W. Bush, Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers abruptly pulled out of consideration on Thursday under mounting pressure from conservative Republicans who questioned whether she would support their views on the highest U.S. court.

Bush said he reluctantly accepted the decision of his White House counsel and longtime ally and would move quickly to fill the vacancy on the court created by the retirement of Justice
Sandra Day O'Connor.

Democrats accused Bush of bowing to conservatives and urged him to pick a centrist nominee as they set the stage for a battle over a choice that could shift the balance of power to the right on the nine-member court.

"The radical right wing of the Republican Party killed the Harriet Miers nomination," said Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat. "Apparently, Ms. Miers did not satisfy those who want to pack the Supreme Court with rigid ideologues."

But many moderate Republicans and Democrats had questions about her as well and her nomination sank under the weight of a medley of concerns on both sides of the aisle about her expertise on constitutional issues, her position on abortion and whether she would have sufficient autonomy from Bush.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Tennessee Republican, on Wednesday night gave White House chief of staff Andy Card "a frank assessment, a lay of the land, on the situation in the (Senate Judiciary) Committee and full Senate," said Frist spokesman Bob Stevenson.

Opponents fought the Miers nomination ever since she was announced on October 3, saying Bush missed a chance to pick an experienced judge with clear conservative credentials who would firmly move the court to the right on such social issues as abortion, gay rights and church-state separation.

Well, on the one hand, I'm relieved that she's out of the running. I'm sorry, but an anti-choice nominee makes me worry, male or female. Also that whole experience thing, you know?

Now, the questions are 1) Who is going to be nominated now? 2) Will it be someone worse?

DV

Comments

[rockahulababy.livejournal.com]

I sometimes wonder if she was just a show to get us worked up over the "lesser of evils" while they try to sneak the "worst of evils" (for lack of a better term) by us without much of a fight.

[desert-vixen.livejournal.com]

It's crossed my mind.

Or, if having nominated a woman, they can now use that to say "But you didn't want a female candidate..."

DV

[rockahulababy.livejournal.com]

That, too. Although, it would be awfully flimsy, especially with Justices such as Sandra Day O'Connor. However, nothing in this political climate would surprise me, and sadly, I could see such a reason being used. I would like to think we as a people have advanced, but it seems we are regressing. :\

[tygerr.livejournal.com]

I have no better idea than anyone else who the next nominee might be, but I can pretty much guarantee you that it'll be someone worse. At least by any definition of "worse" that includes "further right". There will be no particular effort to mollify the left beyond making sure that the nominee has extensive judiciary/legal qualifications, but there WILL be pandering to the religious far-right.

And I'm betting probably male, yes. (Not that it makes all that much practical difference in the current situation--rigid neocon ideologues are available in both genders. They're just easier to find, and more palatable to other neocons, in the y-chromosome model.)

[desert-vixen.livejournal.com]

I have no better idea than anyone else who the next nominee might be, but I can pretty much guarantee you that it'll be someone worse. At least by any definition of "worse" that includes "further right". There will be no particular effort to mollify the left beyond making sure that the nominee has extensive judiciary/legal qualifications, but there WILL be pandering to the religious far-right.

How exactly did we get to this point?

I seriously am hoping for better alternatives in this next vote.

DV

It follows as the night, the day...

[carbonelle.livejournal.com]

How exactly did we get to this point?

By electing a Republican president and quite a lot of republican congressmen, I imagine. I'm with Tygerr: from your perspective, it's bound to be "someone worse." From mine... eh, a tough call. Bush gives us a Condi with one hand and a Brown with the other.