"It's not just that Miers was in favor of racial quotas"
To be fair, I think she was arguing the administration's position, just like Robert's did on other issues.
But I'm still against her nomination.
Miers is a Quota Queen - this was before her days as White House Counsel, i.e. can't blame it on following the President's agenda.
See post # 29 for relevant WaPo article quote.
Bush's-or at the very least, Cheney's-inclination was to support both Gratz and Grutter, i.e. oppose preferential treatment in both the U. of Michigan's law school and its undergraduate program.
It was Gonzales-and to a lesser extent, Miers-who significantly softened the administration's original stance, allowing Justice O'Connor to issue a Solomon-like-well, Bakke-like-decision, which preserved the inherently discriminatory practice of setting aside a certain percentage of seats for underperforming minority applicants.