Posted on 10/20/2005 1:27:08 PM PDT by Stellar Dendrite
The Miers Support Team: Gloomy and Demoralized Now they’re 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."
I am not embarassed for supporting Miers. Why would I be embarassed? I don't like to trash and kick people who have the courage to step up to the plate. After all, she had great things going for her before this and now she's just being flattened. She deserves support and respect, not ridicule. I still support her and I hope everything works out okay for her no matter what.
Not necessary.
The Bush team is doing a fine job of accomplishing that task without any assistance.
What kind of half baked conspiracy theory is this? Where does the part about the Trilateral Commission and the Builderbergers come in?
Do you have a link handy?
Fixed.
:-)
Did Bush say today that she is in the mold of, not Scalia or Thomas, but Roberts? We know nothing about Roberts on the supreme court, he hasn't been there long enough. Why can't Bush say she is like Scalia or Thomas?
Souter in a skirt alert!
It isn't about hate, it's about reason. It's about the Constitution.
Would be better if he knew her mind.
I believe the blogger, the anchoress, is a far-leftie.
Just to be clear, is it your position that she is using the term proportional representation as with Proportional outcome?
You've done well knowing that Madison wasn't alive in 1965, now a bit more reading of Madison and the Federalist Papers will likely make you understand a bit more about the original meaning of proportional representation. Good luck.
Even if she's not a conservative, it would help if she had a brain. Or those justices will eat her alive. Never listen to her. Make her get them coffee. They do that. They've been doing that to one of them for years (Kennedy?)
"I believe the blogger, the anchoress, is a far-leftie."
Actually she seems pro Bush to me.
Better have your flame suit on. I said Bush has a cult of personality and I got hammered by the Kool-Aid crowd.
WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE YOU SMOKING?!?
If she gets confirmed, it'll be by less than 60 votes, and probably close to 50.
Right. Geesh is this THAT big of a deal? Oh let's all slit our wrists!! The sky is falling! This presidency is over! Lots of Clinton's nominees were withdrawn. See Alamo girls list below:
Attorney General nominee Zoe Baird name was withdrawn
Attorney General nominee Kimba Wood name was withdrawn
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights nominee Lani Guinier was withdrawn
Defense Secretary designate Bobby Ray Inman name withdrawn from nomination
Surgeon General nominee Dr. Henry Foster, Jr not approved
Of course Clinton did not have the added burden of members of his own party trashing him and his nominees with much weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth.
If the conservative pundits would have held their fire and waited for the hearings and just let the GOP and DEM senators vote up or down in a sane and considered way, this whole thing would not have blown up so much. Then if she did not get through...big deal. Find someone else. They should have taken their que from Newt who was on Hannity and Comes last nite. He was not hysterical .He was matter of fact, saying if she's voted down that's the way it goes. Bush can just try again.
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