ConfirmThem

By Quin Posted in Uncategorized — Comments () / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

So many good arguments have been made by so many bright people, about why Miers is a bad choice, that I need not repeat them or add to them here. Stuart Taylor, George Will, Bill Kristol, Proessor Bainbridge, Charles Krauthammer, David Frum, just about everybody at National Review, Randy Barnett, Robert Bork, conservative leaders in private by the scores who fear saying or can't say anything in public..... And on and on.
Now is time to consider the politics of it all. Kristol did a good job of it, saying that a withdrawal kills an issue and lets Bush move on to other things. He's right. But there's more. The truth is that the longer this goes on, the more and more his ordinary supporters get split up -- and not just split, but angry. Ed Gillespie jerily calls Miers' critics sexist and elitist. Ronald Cass says we are whining. Ramesh Pnnuru responds by calling Cass a shill. Somebody here used reall harsh word to attack the wise and thoughtful Carol (who IS wrong on this, but who has kept her discussions on a very high plane.) And so on and so on. And those are just a few of many, many examples. There can be no doubt that it will get worse. On the other hand, are there any major supporters of Miers who feel so strongly about it that they will remain angry if Bush moves on to somebody else? I doubt it. The impression I get is that even the Miers supporters don't think she is the BEST choice, not by any means.. but they like her okay, and they feel loyal to the president, and so they are doing their best to support her. But these people will just as quickly rally AGAIN behind, and join Miers' conservative opponents in supporting, a new, better nominee. And if the nominee is of the caliber of John Roberts, Bush will again impress a broad swath of the American public. In short, a withdrawal now, followed by a solid nomination later, will do Bush FAR better politically than will EITHER a defeat or a "victory" (in terms of getting Miers confirmed) in a few months. NOTHING Bush does can make the Miers pick a public relations victory for him, and as long as she is the nominee he will have a base of conservatives so unhappy that they won't have the energy or perhaps the inclination to really go to the mat for him on anything else. And this won't be like taking the ball and going home (by the conservatives, I mean); it won't be a juvenile response; it's just normal psychology. It' s not that consertives will be trying to hurt Bush, but only that they will be so demoralized that they don't have the energy to help him.
In short, the nomination will be a continuing political disaster. Since it already is a substantive disaster, he should recognize that this is one time where just two strikes, if the strikes are bad enough, means he's out. WITHDRAW HER, NOW!