Well said.
Another perspective: With regard to the balance of the court, the only meaningful test is whether Miers is preferable to O'Connor. That's the choice at hand.
And yes, it is still only a gut feel at this point, but I don't think Miers will be nearly the mistake for Bush that O'Connor was for Reagan.
That's one reason why I can't trash Bush on this, yet. O'Connor is still deciding cases. If she's replaced by Miers, and Miers turns out to be better than O'Connor, that's a win. Not a big win in itself, but a win nonetheless.
I can only imagine how O'Connor would be voting if Bush selected a controversial nominee that drew a filibuster which put her retirement off indefinitely.
I would have to disagree. Not because Miers is going to be left of O'Connor, but because conservatives have been burned so many times now. Anything less than a strict constructionist is going to be a complete failure in the eyes of conservatives. Or at least many of them.
Look, this will all be rehashed every single time she takes an activist position on a case. It will rip that scab off over and over and over. Even conservatives that are standing by her nomination now may very well get upset when decisions are not going their way and she's the 5 vote.
I love the President. Feel like he's family type thing, but I can't stand with him on this one. I think the chance of her handing down some bad decisions will hurt him bad, real bad, if she makes it to the court.