What's worse is that if Bush *did* have a stealth candidate strategy, it's backfiring bigtime.
Conservatives do NOT want to risk another Souter. It's that simple. Give us some real assurance you really will be an originalist. If Miers can't make those assurances stick even in a closed-door session with a Senator, I would prefer we take the fallout of a failed nomination than 20 years of smarting over a missed opportunity to put a conservative on the court.
If she can't make that assurance with a REPUBLICAN Senator, then how much can we trust her at all???