"If he becomes vindictive, he will be abandoned."
There is irony in this statement, and I hope I'm not the only one who noticed it.
Anyway, you seem to assume that if he does not choose a candidate from your "annointed" list then he's being "vindictive" -- but that assumption is part of the problem. People who are always looking for a fight for its own sake tend to interpret things that way. But he has other constintuencies and the good of the country to consider.
The "good of the country" is served by fealty to the Constitution. The good of the country is not served by Justices who can be swayed from the written Constitution to rely on their own wishes or feelings. We didn't know anything about Miers' propensities - and that was the problem with her nomination.
You have to allow that the conservative critics of the president also had the best interests of the country in mind when they resisted Miers' nomination. Unfortunately, Bush's pick was one of weakness. He was rocked by the Louisiana hurricane, Iraq woes and the continuing CIA leak probe. Miers looked like a safe pick with the opposition. Unfortunately for Bush, it was his conservative base which tripped him up with his own promise. It was his conservative base which looked at the best interests of the country's future - damn the president's popularity and poll ratings.
Sorry, sad to let you down. Bush is not always correct. Once in a while, it would be nice if he would display a little of the loyalty to the party which he expects to be shown to him.