Some High Court Candidates Withdrew

Reuters ^ | 10/12/05 | Steve Holland and Thomas Ferraro

[Mighty_Quinn]

McClellan said Rove told Dobson that "some individuals, when the list was longer, well into the double digits, had said that they preferred not to be considered" because they did not want to deal with "the ordeal of going through the confirmation process."

But he said that had nothing to do with Bush's eventual nomination of Miers. "The president made a decision to nominate Harriet Miers. That was his choice, his only choice," he said.

McClellan would give no names of candidates who withdrew but a conservative federal appeals court judge, Priscilla Owen of Texas, was reportedly one of them.

Democrats had blocked Bush's nomination of Owen to the appellate court during his first term and warned she would have trouble getting confirmed for the Supreme Court.

Bush says Miers shares his conservative judicial philosophy but so far there has been little paperwork to document her views on abortion and other divisive legal issues.

[Mighty_Quinn]

I don't know if we really wanted Owen. Some might say her views on abortion aren't clear enough.

What say all of you?

[Huck]

I say the headline is deceptive because McClellan gave no names and their are conflicting rumors about Owens. I also say this makes the Miers pick look even more pathetic.

[Texas Federalist]

I agree, Quinn. She is too much of a blank slate for me, but preferable to Miers.

[HitmanLV]

I don't seek an activist judge, so their opinion on abortion isn't important.

I want an originalist interpretation of the USC. A person can be pro abortion or pro life: it shouldn't impact their decision on the Roe or Casey decisions.

As I have said many times on FR, overturning Roe won't stop one abortion in the USA. That would just leave the practice to the states to regulate more freely, and not one state will outlaw first trimester abortion.

[cripplecreek]

I say I want to know if Harriet Miers will look to foreign laws as a basis of rulings. I want to know her feelings on the international court and I am concerned about how she is likely to rule regarding eminent domain.

Owen isn't the nominee and isn't worthy of discussion based on that alone.

[TheDon]

But he said that had nothing to do with Bush's eventual nomination of Miers. "The president made a decision to nominate Harriet Miers. That was his choice, his only choice," he said.

[flashbunny]

hhmmmm,,,rueters hinting owen declined, or national review stating she didn't?

Gee,which to believe - reuters or national review?

[flashbunny]

P.S. your headline should be changed, or at least have questions marks added - you are stating it like it's a fact when it isn't.

[Keith in Iowa]

Nice to see a bit of realism in this venue.

Thanks.

[cake_crumb]

I say you shouldn't have posted this. Almost nobody here will read it for one thing, because they can't Bush Bash with it. I've been telling about the withdrawls on other Meiers threads, and it's as though their browsers interpret that detail of my post as invisible text.

I'm sure that once's she's withdrawn, the little whiners'll be really jubilant, and then thay can have one of Billary's numerous legal counsil instead, which will make 'em REALLY extatic.

Thanks for posting, BTW. Nobody's posting much in the way of updating news lately. It gets in the way of the Bush Bashing.

[Don'tMessWithTexas]

Owen was the Texas Supreme Ct. Justice that voted to uphold Rexas' parental notification act. This was the act that Alberto voted to overturn. What makes you say that she's a bit of a blank slate?

[NonValueAdded]

As with a colonoscopy, once you have been through the prep you do not want to repeat same. "Confirmation hearings? No thanks."

[Bahbah]

I don't seek an activist judge, so their opinion on abortion isn't important.

Well, there you go. Who ever would have thought I would be agreeing with a Hitman :)

[flashbunny]

MIERS & LAST-MINUTE DROP-OUTS (Priscilla Owen did not withdraw her name)

MIERS & LAST-MINUTE DROP-OUTS [Kathryn Jean Lopez] A journalist friend just spoke with a top Texas lawyer who spoke with Priscilla Owen last week. He says that she "most emphatically" did not withdraw her name from consideration to the Court. If the White House spin is that Harriet Miers got the job because nobody else wanted it, it would seem that the White House is at a desperation point. Posted at 12:07 PM

[Shermy]

"some individuals, when the list was longer, well into the double digits"

That's not how Dobson made it sound.

So Miers was one of eight? Nine?

[TomGuy]

There was a post earlier today that Pricilla Owens said she did not withdraw her name from contention.


Apparently, the spin cycle is in full operation on this nomination process.

[HitmanLV]

For what it's worth, it isn't so bad. I agree with myself all the time, and look how great I turned out! :-)

[DTogo]

250+ million people in the country, and he chose Miers?

[Ol' Sparky]

I say Karl Rove lied:

MIERS & LAST-MINUTE DROP-OUTS [Kathryn Jean Lopez] A journalist friend just spoke with a top Texas lawyer who spoke with Priscilla Owen last week. He says that she "most emphatically" did not withdraw her name from consideration to the Court. If the White House spin is that Harriet Miers got the job because nobody else wanted it, it would seem that the White House is at a desperation point. Posted at 12:07 PM

[Bahbah]

Okay, made me laugh.