Apparently it didn't even occur to Bush. The word is, Reid first suggested her name.
I agree with your point that Bush had to reach past several dozen far more qualified and demonstrably conservative potential nominees to tap Miers, an unknown and untested third-stringer.
But from the two dealmakers' perspectives, it is a compromise that will work. She is a safe nominee, and Bush likes that. And she is a weak nominee, and Reid likes that.
Isn't that hilarious?
It didn't even occur to the President to nominate a woman he's worked with for years?
I think the President, Rove and Cheney are playing the Dems like the fools that they are. We shall see. Should be interesting to watch.