Published on Monday, October 3, 2005 by ThinkProgress.org Right-Wing Peanut Gallery Hits Miers Hard
The Washington Post recently reported that Bush might go with a Supreme Court nominee that would soothe his conservative political base:
The president's core supporters are urging bold action to sway the court to the right. Some think Bush might pick a hard-liner to keep his base happy and prevent a further drop in the polls.
It looks like Bush did just the opposite. Here what some conservatives are saying about the Miers nomination:
Michelle Malkin: "What Julie Myers is to the Department of Homeland Security, Harriet Miers is to the Supreme Court. It's not just that Miers has zero judicial experience. It's that she's so transparently a crony/'diversity' pick while so many other vastly more qualified and impressive candidates went to waste. If this is President Bush's bright idea to buck up his sagging popularity--among conservatives as well as the nation at large--one wonders whom he would have picked in rosier times. Shudder."
National Review's David Frum: "The Miers nomination, though, is an unforced error. ... [N]obody would describe her as one of the outstanding lawyers in the United States."
American Spectator Blog: "There is now talk of among some conservatives about a filibuster of the Miers nomination. ... According to several White House sources, few inside the building took the possibility of a Miers nomination seriously. Now that it's a reality, they are stunned. 'We passed up Gonzales for this?' was one conservative staffer's reaction."
Instapundit: "Perhaps they'll change my mind, but so far I'm underwhelmed."
Public Advocate: "The President's nomination of Miers is a betrayal of the conservative, pro-family voters whose support put Bush in the White House in both the 2000 and 2004 elections and who were promised Supreme Court appointments in the mold of Thomas and Scalia.'
RedState.org: "Color me less than thrilled . . . I just can't think that Harriet Miers was the best person for the job."
National Review's Corner: "It's an inspiring testament to the diversity of the president's cronies. Wearing heels is not an impediment to being a presidential crony in this administration! I can only assume that the president felt that his support was slipping in this important bloc, and he had to do something to shore it up."
Powerline Blog: "A Disappointment: Harriet Miers, that is. I'm sure that she is a capable lawyer and a loyal aide to President Bush. But the bottom line is that he had a number of great candidates to choose from, and instead of picking one of them--Luttig, McConnell, Brown, or a number of others--he nominated someone whose only obvious qualification is her relationship with him."
Southern Appeal: "I am done with President Bush: Harriet Miers? Are you freakin. kidding me?! Can someone--anyone--make the case for Justice Miers on the merits? Seriously, this is the best the president could do?"
Right Wing News: "Disaster, Thy Name Is Harriet Miers: George Bush's decision to appoint Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court is bitterly disappointing. Miers is a Bush crony with no real conservative credentials, who leapfrogged legions of more deserving judges just because she was Bush's pal."
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/1003-06.htm
Amused, Peter (lotsa links in the original)
"I thought how proud I am to be standing up beside my dad. Never did it occur to me that he would become the gist for cartoonists." George W. Bush, Newsweek, Feb. 28, 2000
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