Posted on 10/20/2005 1:27:08 PM PDT by Stellar Dendrite
The Miers Support Team: Gloomy and Demoralized Now theyre discussing stopping her visits to the Senate.
Strategists working with the White House in support of the Supreme Court nomination of Harriet Miers are becoming increasingly demoralized and pessimistic about the nomination's prospects on Capitol Hill in the wake of Miers's meetings with several Republican and Democratic senators. On a conference call held this morning, they even discussed whether Miers should simply stop visiting with lawmakers, lest any further damage be done and so that time spent in such get-acquainted sessions will not cut into Miers's intensive preparation for her confirmation hearing.
The strategists discuss issues on a twice-weekly conference call led by Leonard Leo, the executive vice president of the Federalist Society who has taken leave to help the White House shepherd the nomination through the Senate. A number of people who have taken part in the calls described the conversations to National Review Online. None wanted to be identified, because they do not want to openly oppose the White House or defy loyalists like Leo who are trying hard to defend Miers. Nevertheless, they paint a grim portrait of morale among those close to the nomination.
"The number of participants is declining," says one knowledgeable source. "With Roberts, these calls occurred five or six or seven times a week. Pretty early on, the calls on Miers were scaled back to twice a week. That says something in and of itself."
"It's been a gradual descent into almost silence," says a second source of the calls. "The meetings with the senators are going terribly. On a scale of one to 100, they are in negative territory. The thought now is that they have to end....Obviously the smart thing to do would be to withdraw the nomination and have a do-over as soon as possible. But the White House is so irrational that who knows? As of this morning, there is a sort of pig-headed resolve to press forward, cancel the meetings with senators if necessary, and bone up for the hearings."
"They are going to be keeping the meetings that they've already scheduled," says a third source. "But they have scheduled murder boards today from 12 to 5. She has to focus on her hearing. And the questionnaire that wasn't filled out, to me that's an indication [the White House] hasn't done the vetting. She has to spend a lot of time discussing stuff that should have been done before. So between those two things finishing the questionnaire and preparing for the hearing, which is going to be make or break they prefer to put her time into that."
"In the early days, there were people on the call who tried to give facile defenses of Miers, and they were immediately shot down," says a fourth source. "And by the way, those defenses weren't as insulting as the White House line no way would they have done the 'sexist, elitist' line."
In summary, says the first source, "People have been looking for ways to support this. There are a lot of us who would like to find a reason to be encouraged. Every time I try to accommodate myself to this nomination, folks at the White House say idiotic things that piss me off, like that spin on Rove's part about her supposed deep involvement in judicial selection for three years, which is just not accurate."
"Demoralization and pessimism?" the source continues. "That's been a constant. We're in the various stages of grief."
She doesn't have "great" credentials. What she has is a great friendship with George and Laura Bush.
Danger Danger!
Report to Assimilation Camp
But seriously, you make a good point. And once that meme is out, it (WRONGLY, but perception means something) tars many other Presidential appointments. It also tars him, personaly, with some nasty labels.
About sums things up, doesn't it?
If she needs "intensive preparation", she's not up to the job. Case closed.
Do you consider yourself far right?
If not, you should.
What you fail to understand is that if Miers was the most brilliant jurist in the history of the USA she would be facing almost no criticism from Republicans.
And why isn't she qualified or are you just parroting Ann Coulter?
Well, that shouldn't disqualify her, huh? Supreme Court Justices don't GET questioned, they DO the questioning. Drink your kool-aid and trust your President.
I'll enjoy comparing notes with you after the fact.
No matter which way they vote, the civil war is on. Their better approach is to come up with a reasoned justification for their vote, based on thie perception of how closely the nominee hews to original intent. All GOP, I think, value and prefer that SCOTUS Justices hew to that line. And to be a principled decision, they should use the same criteria that Harriet applied whrn vetting other candidates.
"We'd be talking about somebody's background," said Leonard Leo, now on leave as executive vice president of the Federalist Society, the conservative group whose headlined speakers have included Supreme Court justices and Bush administration official."There would be a moment of silence when she was clearly thinking about what was being said and then she would challenge it, asking, 'But what specifically in those opinions strongly suggests that this is someone who ascribes to judicial restraint?'" Leo said.
53 posted on 10/15/2005 6:41:58 PM EDT by AmericaUnited
The Senator would ask, "What specifically (generalities, like "strict constructionist" with no more, are not specific) in Ms. Miers' opinions (they won't be judicial, but that's okay - any writing, transcript of speech, etc. will do) strongly suggests (this admits a slight amount, but not much ambiguity) that she is someone who ascribes to judicial restraint?"
Not interested in what cowards in the shadows have to say about anything.
The nomination is trading on the trust and faith of the wingnut fringe religious conservatives, and the obedient loyalty of the party faithful.
ping if you didnt see this already.
Hold on. You're talking about me. And I'm no Miers cheerleader.
Judicial philosophy is a rather important consideration to most people other than the President, apparently. If you've got a consistent philosophy regarding the way in which to interpret Constitutional questions of law, you are much less likely to insert your own opinions or policy preferences in making decisions from the bench, a quality that the President supposedly values. Instead, we are being told that she's a good nominee precisely because she supposedly (again with only second or third-hand testimony to support the contention) holds certain personal or political views.
Those same aforementioned essays also are of rather low quality, belying the spin that she's somehow this brilliant thinker. Being a Justice on the Supreme Court involves a little more than just voting on a particular case. You must also actually be able to persuasively show the basis of your legal reasoning. You are, in essence, explaining the ramifications of the law to the courts and lawyers that make practical use of it on a daily basis. It seems rather silly to nominate someone that will have to have that explained to her first before she can write it down for herself. (I find the latest spin on this to be rather amusing.....we're being told that such a qualification is irrelevant since that's why judges have clerks. It is amusing because it admits that the original criticism that she doesn't possess the qualification is a valid one. If this is true, why don't we just skip the middleman and actually nominate the clerk. At the least, we'd be saving on one government salary! Of course, as with judicial nominations being based on actual qualifications rather than hero worship, fiscal restraint would be a bit too much to expect of the Administration.
Ms. Miers cluelessness on Constitutional issues has been reinforced by her recent statements to various Senators (occasioning the poor souls tasked with selling this empty suit to the Senate to consider ending her meetings with Senators to forestall further embarrassment) as well as in her own poorly reasoned and written responses to the Senate questionnaire.
What do you put forward as qualifications to this lifetime appointment (other than third hand testimony and her bowling skills or love for M&M's)?
Sorry, but I don't trust "anonymous sources" from lame-stream media.
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