[burzum]

I have always been skeptical about the Miers nomination. I thought it was a bluff. If Bush wanted to rally support for a nominee that the GOP would fight for (like Owens, Luttig, etc.) he would first use a fake nominee to wake them up. Now that the GOP is awake and ready for a fight (and quite frankly, wanting to do some brawlin'), he can nominate a strong orignalist and have 100% support. At the same time, there will be a lot less tolerance in the GOP about wanting to cave into the Democrats' demands. If he picks a strong originalist, he could potentially deliver a very powerful blow to the Democrats (and perhaps kill the filibuster rule at the same time).

[JewishRighter]

Uh-er, did you say something about the GOP bein' awak and ready for a fight or some brawlin'? Remember, the GOP you're talking about is the Senate GOP. Those guys can't fight their way out of a wet paper bag with an M-1 Abrams tank! If that's what we're relying on, I fear the worst. I wish the President would find his cojones on this one and start remembering the "bully" part of the bully pulpit. That might put some steel in the Senate jellyfish.

[Deo et Patria]

I wish you were right, that Bush was bluffing all along, but I don't buy it for an instant. First of all, as Rush has said, this move emboldened the libs, as it smacked of weakness. Secondly, it discouraged his allies in the base. Thirdly, it squandered a great deal of much needed political capital.

Whatever the motivation, I'm glad we got it behind us. Now, let's see if the President can quit listening to Andy Card and serve us up a genuine originalist with credentials for this nomination.