Miers’ Withdrawal Opens Door for Scalia/Thomas-like Nominee

By Jody Brown and Bill Fancher of AFR News – 10-27-05

(AgapePress) – Harriet Miers has withdrawn her nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court. While President Bush says he has accepted her decision “reluctantly,” at least one pro-family group that had called for her to make the move is commending Miss Miers for withdrawing.

Upon her withdrawal, the President recounted the reasons he nominated his White House counsel for an associate justice post. “I nominated Harriet Miers … because of her extraordinary legal experience, her character, and her conservative judicial philosophy,” Bush stated, adding that throughout her career Miers had gained the respect and admiration of her fellow attorneys. He also noted she has earned a reputation for “fairness and total integrity.”

Despite such qualities, however, nomination of the Texas attorney, who has never been a judge, seemed to be fighting an uphill battle — initially because of the lack of a “paper trail” that would have permitted examination of her judicial rulings and, presumably, determination of her judicial philosophy. And then — at least among religious conservatives — because it was unclear how she might rule on abortion-related cases, even though she was a professed evangelical Christian. But President Bush did not allude to either of those issues in his statement.

“I understand and share her concern … about the current state of the Supreme Court confirmation process,” he said. “It is clear that senators [on the Judiciary Committee] would not be satisfied until they gained access to internal documents concerning advice provided during her tenure at the White House.” Such disclosures, the president asserted, would undermine a president’s ability to receive candid counsel.

Mier’s decision to withdraw, the president continued, “demonstrates her deep respect for this essential aspect of the Constitutional separation of powers — and confirms my deep respect and admiration for her.”

Despite her withdrawal, Miers plans to continue in her role as White House counsel, according to the president’s statement.

‘Best Thing,’ ‘Courageous’ Step
Just one day before Miers’ withdrawal, a conservative Washington, DC-based organization was calling strongly for Harriet Miers to withdraw her nomination, saying events in her professional and civic life cause observers to question “whether she chooses to reflect and advance the views of the group she’s with at the moment.”

Concerned Women for America said candidly it was difficult for them to call for Miers to withdraw her nomination because they wanted to back the president. But unable to find evidence to support Miers, they “felt it was the best thing for the [Supreme] Court, the president, and Miss Miers” to take that stand.

“Miss Miers has shown great respect and consideration by putting the needs of the American people and the judicial system above her own personal ambitions,” says CWA’s Wendy Wright, reacting to Mier’s decision [to step aside].

Among other things, CWA had voiced concern about the nominee’s apparent inconsistency between the strong pro-life position of her evangelical church in Dallas, and her professed admiration for groups and individuals that promote anti-family agendas.

Other conservatives — Gary Bauer, for one — had also been hedging on their endorsement of Miers for similar reasons. The chairman of the Campaign for Working Families says President Bush [did] the right thing in accepting her decision to withdraw.

“It’s been a difficult few weeks for him and for [Miers] and for those of us who have been critical of this nominee,” Bauer admits. “Now, by showing this leadership, I think the president has an opportunity to nominate one of the top conservative names that everyone in town [Washington, DC] knows about — and then we’ll have the kind of debate that we should have.”

All along, Bauer has advocated for such a debate, and has urged President Bush to appoint someone who clearly shares his own values and conservative judicial philosophy — and to follow up on his promise to nominate someone along the lines of current Associate Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.

Pat Mahoney, a pro-life leader in the nation’s capital, says he was glad to get the word of Miers’ withdrawal, of whom he says “there were just too many questions out there.”

“Although Miss Miers had a wonderful resume and credentials on other issues, she was not qualified to be a Supreme Court justice,” says the spokesman for the Christian Defense Coalition. “I applaud her for doing the right thing, the courageous thing by not putting the Bush administration through what would have been very contentious hearings.”

Mahoney says he is hopeful the White House has learned a lesson through the Miers nomination.

“There is no doubt that [with] Concerned Women for America and other groups .. calling for the withdrawal, I think the president now has to recognize ‘Let’s get it right this time,’” he says. And that, adds Mahoney, would be a nominee who holds a judicial philosophy similar to that of Justices Scalia and Thomas.