I admit it, I'm disappointed in the choice of Harriet Miers. I can't get excited about anyone who gave even one red cent to Al Gore after he flipped to become an abortion supporter. However, listening to the ayem talkers here in DC (I write pre-Limbaugh), it strikes me that they're doing what Conservatives always do with the President: rush to assume they've been sold out. In one sense, we have been --with mid-term elections looking quite bad for Republicans, this might be the only chance we have for a serious debate about the role of the judiciary, so as a matter of tactics I think a stealth candidate is a mistake.
However, in her defense, law firms notoriously pressure lawyers to give to all kinds of candidates, and in some $20,000 worth of contributions to PACS & candidates, she gave roughly $3000 to Dems. It doesn't give me a good feeling, but it's not the end of the world. More to the point, the under-the-radar triumph of this presidency has been the number of wonderful judges he's seated on the bench, and Harriet Miers was responsible for vetting all those people. And as President of the Texas Bar Association, she led a fight to prevent the TBA from supporting abortion funding. That's reassuring on its face, and as a political matter may give us an abortion fight in the confirmation hearings after all. So, Conservatives, don't be like Katrina reporters. Wait awhile for the story to emerge.
