Posted on 10/06/2005 5:17:35 PM PDT by freedomdefender
Harriet Miers is unfazed by the criticism and questioning of her qualifications as she seeks to become the next Supreme Court justice, a longtime friend said Thursday.
"She's excited. She's working hard at it. The criticism, I think, is rolling off her back as it usually does," said Justice Nathan Hecht of the Texas Supreme Court.
Hecht, who has known Miers for 30 years, said he has visited her several times since she was nominated by President Bush on Monday.
A new poll indicates people are uncertain about Miers. In an AP-Ipsos poll taken this week, two thirds of those surveyed didn't know enough about Miers to have an opinion of her. Just 41 percent said the Senate should confirm her, lower than similar ratings for Roberts after his nomination; 27 percent said she should not be confirmed and 32 percent weren't sure.
The White House said that former Indiana Republican Sen. Dan Coats, who has most recently served as ambassador to Germany, will serve as Miers' escort through the confirmation process, much as former Sen. Fred Thompson did for Chief Justice John Roberts.
"Senator Coats will be working closely with the nominee and serving as a public advocate for her," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said. "He will help advise her throughout the process. Senator Coats' role will be to attend meetings with senators on Harriet's courtesy visits."
The choice of Miers, a veteran lawyer and White House aide who has never been a judge _ and therefore has no record of judicial decisions _ has worried some Republican senators, anti-abortion activists and others who question the depth of her conservative views. Democrats, meanwhile, worry that she will prove too conservative.
"I don't have any doubt that she'll be conservative," Hecht said in an interview on NBC"s "Today" show. "Whether she'll move the court to the right I don't know."
Hecht said he was confident that Miers is "pro-life" but can't predict whether she would vote to overturn the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion.
Miers' commitment to her evangelical church in Dallas "shapes the kind of person that she is," Hecht said. "It doesn't shape her view on cases. In fact, almost the opposite."
"Someone who is very committed to their faith is also going to be committed to the oath that they take as a judge, and is going to judge cases fairly and is not going to let personal or religious views or any other kind of views influence the decisions in actual cases," he told CBS' "The Early Show."
You think so? Interesting. I don't.
You think so? Interesting. I don't.
"The President does not agree with you. He wins." The country loses.
Yep, and anyone poking a stick at her might find her biting back. (Doesn't Texas have a lot of rattlesnakes?)
I think she should be given a chance to answer the questions before anyone judges her to be lacking.
I disagree. From all of that I find the meaning to be that she is fair, intelligent, and unbiased. She will vote on the facts and applicable law.
I would have thought that she would need that knowledge to be in the job she presently has. What makes you think attorneys don't know the Constitution?
Amen. Those who think she should have had experience as a judge should remember all of the threads we have had against judges!
Most USSC appointees over the past 100 years have not been judges.
Patience grasshopper.
Perhaps some strategery will unfold.
Miers gets voted down and the dims worst nightmare gets the nod
Not only that, but they are effectively lobbying for Sandra Day O'Connor to remain on the court indefinitely.
Not that all of them even realize it
Sandra Day O'Connor is not the Democrats worst nightmare.
They are filled with hatred for her. I wonder if they hated Clarence Thomas when he was nominated.
I think this is what really bothers alot of the critics ...
Less than 50% has been judges.
Has=Have LOL
Why do you think that they are filled with hatred for her?
Really? I assumed that hiding behind the cross served to mollify potential critics.
Then again, sometimes tantrums are unavoidable. He had it coming, but I've moved on.
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