Bush choice for supreme court outrages conservatives
WASHINGTON, Oct 3: President George Bush’s decision on Monday to nominate White House insider Harriet Miers for a Supreme Court vacancy triggered outrage from conservatives who questioned whether she would uphold their political views.
Mr Bush chose Miers, a lawyer but not a judge whose opinions on key issues likely to come before the high court are largely unknown, to replace the retiring Sandra Day O’Connor.
Conservatives who formed the bedrock foundation of Bush’s re-election last November immediately protested the nomination as a betrayal of his campaign promise to pick conservative judges, pointing to her past campaign donations to Democrats.
Ms Miers, 60, a long-time ally of Bush’s going back to his days as Texas governor and currently White House counsel, would be the third woman ever to serve on the Supreme Court if confirmed by the US Senate. O’Connor was the first and Ruth Bader Ginsburg has been there since 1993.
“I believe that senators of both parties will find that Harriet Miers’ talent, experience and judicial philosophy make her a superb choice to safeguard the constitutional liberties and equality of all Americans,” Bush said in a hastily arranged Oval Office ceremony with Miers.
O’Connor, a moderate conservative, was the key swing vote on a number of 5-4 decisions on the closely divided Supreme Court. Democrats said much was unknown about Miers and that she would undergo intense scrutiny by the Senate.
The White House noted some Democrats had urged Bush to consider the Dallas-born Miers but would give no names. One of those, however, was Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat.
“I like Harriet Miers,” said Reid, who had voted against John Roberts as US chief justice in Roberts’ confirmation vote last week. “In my view, the Supreme Court would benefit from the addition of a justice who has real experience as a practicing lawyer.”
But some conservatives expressed concern that Bush had missed a historic opportunity to shift the balance of the court in a clear way by picking someone in the same mould as conservative justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.
“It is very hard to avoid the conclusion that President Bush flinched from a fight on constitutional philosophy. Miers is undoubtedly a decent and competent person. But her selection will unavoidably be judged as reflecting a combination of cronyism and capitulation on the part of the president,” said William Kristol, editor of the Weekly Standard magazine.
Manny Miranda, head of a conservative coalition called The Third Branch Conference, said Miers was “the most unqualified choice” for the high court since Lyndon Johnson tried to make Abe Fortas chief justice in 1968.
“I was hoping that the president would keep his campaign promise. He said he would name someone like Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas. We thought he meant someone with a clear judicial record on particular issues,” Miranda said.
Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn urged conservatives not to jump to conclusions and not to prejudge her.
