Miers really has to walk a tightrope to be confirmed. Revelations such as this one which question her conservatism will potentially cost her votes from Republicans. Revelations about her Christian faith (which then implies an anti-abortion stance) will cost her votes from Democrats. If she was as brilliant as Roberts, she might be able to pull it off, but it's clear that she isn't.
Bush might actually have a better chance of getting one of the "big name" conservatives confirmed. Someone like Brown or Owen would only get attacked from one side. The nuclear option would shut down the Schumerites. If we don't have enough Republican votes to pull off the nuclear option, and it is tried and fails, at least we conservatives will understand why a stealth candidate with inferior credentials would be Bush's only option. Right now, we don't believe it.
'bout sums up the situation as best as yet I've read. And, I now agree -- after reading and hearing what's been written and said about Miers in these past two weeks -- that she doesn't suggest a great or even talented intellect, but an adequate one. I'm now concerned about Miers' nomination.
However, the so-called conservative media who has been hammering on about her in intensely negative fashion has done nothing to formulate reasonable causes to decline her and I do think the Miers nomination has revealed a higher degree of unreasonableness among conservative media than I am comfortable with, either.
I tend to think that Miers nomination was a Laura Bush construct.