You make an excellent point here; if Bush doesn't have the guts to nominate and fight for a clearly-defined conservative jurist, none will be clearly defined in the future.
I think she's a goner in committee too, unless she bails out on her own - which is the usual face-saving move.
Then the question becomes: with Bush Jr. in a snit over his screwup, will he just go with his other crony Gonzales (that's Spanish for "Souter") and hang tough on an even worse pick, while Luttig, Rogers Brown and Owen continue to gather dust?
If Miers gets voted down in committee, it's likely Bush will put forward Edith Clements, who was a leading candidate originally until he decided on Roberts.
Clements is truly a moderate.
Another question is, how will the LEFT react to Miers retracting herself and a strict originalist being named?
"Then the question becomes: with Bush Jr. in a snit over his screwup, will he just go with his other crony Gonzales (that's Spanish for "Souter") and hang tough on an even worse pick, while Luttig, Rogers Brown and Owen continue to gather dust?"
Bump for another Souter joke.
If Bush is forced to withdraw the nomination it will be due to pressure from Republicans in Congress and Karl Rove due to fear of the damage done to the Republican party. Thus, I can only imagine the replacement would be known originalist as only such a nominee would undo the damage done thus far and the far greater potential damage to the GOP's election hopes in 2006.