[pgyanke]

Since 1968 (nearly 40 years), there have only been two Justices appointed by Democrats, and both of those were done under Clinton.

It's this little statistic that brought out the passion of those opposed to Miers. Republicans have an obviously bad record with stealth nominees and personal "trust me's". Alito is an awesome pick.

[Cboldt]

It's this little statistic [only been two Justices appointed by Democrats] that brought out the passion of those opposed to Miers.

There were a host of reasons to be opposed to Miers - and I emphasize the "reason" part of the word "reasons."

OTOH, most of the support for the Miers nomination was bottomed out on trust in President Bush, not on reasoned analysis of the system, or on reasoned review of the record in order to project Miers' likely judicial philosophy into the future.