Harriet Miers has withdrawn her nomination to be the next justice on the Supreme Court.
And now the battle truly begins.
Forced by the radical wing of his party to nominate a justice who passes the supposedly nonexistent conservative litmus test, and having to do so at a time when he desperately needs to shore up the support of his own party, Bush will undoubtedly pick someone whose right-wing views are beyond reproach.
And then it will be up to Democrats to fight the nomination.
Suffice it to say that after the Roberts hearings, my confidence in their ability to do that successfully is less than absolute.
But we shall see. Let’s hope that the Gang of 14 lives up to its bipartisan posse status, and prevents the next nominee from being a ranting ideologue on the order of Antonin Scalia.
UPDATE: Harriet weighs in (via Attytood)
UPDATE #2: Great post by Ezra Klein (who quotes another great post by Mark Schmitt) on the changed dynamics in the Senate, and especially about Arlen Specter’s role in approving the next nomination.
Schmitt writes:
Ezra Klein adds that “In addition to a weakened White House, Frist has completely lost control and the Senate has devolved into fractious warfare between a variety of powerbases looking towards campaigns for the presidency. It is, for party discipline purposes, the absolute worst of all worlds.”
Let’s hope that they’re both right.
7 Comments on "Harriet Miers Withdraws"
agi t prop:
Let me go on record by saying I was completely wrong.
Get ready for the nuclear option to resurface…
Matt:
But it was a beautiful theory, Agi, and not something I’d put past them.
Rod:
This article by Charles Krauthammer turns out to have been remarkably prescient, much though I loathe him:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/20/AR2005102001635.html
Suzy Shedd:
Actually, Rod, I don’t think it was prescient (I loathe him, too) — I think it was a GIFT. They read it, said, “Yeah, we can DO that,” and did it. He’s probably on the list for a medal now, huh? They have to be suffering from a serious paucity of ideas to look to Krauthammer as a source of inspiration.
Oblogatory Anecdotes:
Lessons Learned From The Miers Debacle!
Lessons Learned From The Miers Debacle!
What happens now that Harriet Miers has withdrawn her nomination to the Supreme Court? Miers will stay as Whitehouse council, and President Bush has another choice to make. What has President Bush learned fro…
The Heretik:
AFTER THE FALL OF HARRIET MIERS
MIERS SINKS to the bottom of the political sea and what nominee will next launch into what are sure to be rough and uncharted waters [story] With all of the skipper Bush’s troubles and the recent rupture in the
Rod:
That’s a very good point, Suzy. I hadn’t thought of it that way.
I wonder, also, now that she’s back to the job of considering candidates for the Supreme Court to recommend to the President for his review, whether Harriet might nominate herself again. That would be funny.
Comments