Archive: Reaction to Withdrawal of Harriet Miers
Sen. Reid Says Miers Was Not a Mistake
Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), the Senate's minority leader, said on ABC's "This Week" today that Bush's nomination of Harriet MIers was not a mistake and he believes she could have done well in a nomination hearing. He urged the president not to be too quick to move to the right on a nomination and to steer toward the middle....
By Lexie Verdon | October 30, 2005; 12:02 PM ET | Comments (2)
The Morning After
For analyses of the HEM withdrawal, see The Washington Post, the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, the Dallas Morning News, the Financial Times, the Los Angeles Times, Newsday and USA Today. For complete coverage, documents and background, see this special report on washingtonpost.com. For a full listing of articles on possible replacements, click to this page on Google. For a sense of the Blogosphere on Miers, click to technorati.com. For encyclopedic works on the entire controversy, see the entry in wikipedia. ...
By Fred Barbash | October 28, 2005; 02:46 AM ET | Comments (1)
Post Mortem
Howard Kurtz in The Washington Post on the role of conservative media: Charles Krauthammer, David Frum, Bill Kristol, Laura Ingraham and their conservative colleagues didn't sink the Harriet Miers nomination on their own. But in the blink of a news cycle, they turned against their president, framed the debate and provided the passion that undermined her case. It was Krauthammer who offered the White House last Friday what he called "the perfectly honorable way to solve the conundrum" by using a refusal to turn over Miers' internal memos as a fig leaf for withdrawing her Supreme Court bid -- which is precisely what she did. "I guess she reads my column," the Washington Post and Fox News commentator said Thursday. "All that was missing was the footnote."...
By Fred Barbash | October 27, 2005; 08:14 PM ET | Comments (23)
Post Mortem
The Daily Kos: (and Hotline through Daily Kos)Hotline: "The tipping point came within the past several days. GOP Senators privately communicated to WH CoS Andy Card that unless they had access to hard evidence that Miers was conversant in constitutional issues, there was no way she would be confirmed. Her performance in private meetings was weak, at best, these senators told Card....
By Fred Barbash | October 27, 2005; 04:54 PM ET | Comments (18)
Post Mortem
Dan Froomkin at washingtonpost.com: Facing unprecedented ferocious challenges on a variety of fronts, the White House is suddenly adopting a shocking new tactic: full-out strategic retreat. Today's withdrawal of Harriet Miers's bedeviled nomination to the Supreme Court is, of course, Exhibit A. But there's also an Exhibit B: the White House's quiet but total cave-in yesterday, reinstating the wage protections for workers involved in Hurricane Katrina reconstruction....
By Fred Barbash | October 27, 2005; 03:32 PM ET | Comments (4)
Post Mortem
Dahlia Lithwick in Slate writes:The epitaph for Harriet Miers' failed bid to be an associate justice on the U.S. Supreme Court should go like this: Here lies the nomination of Harriet MiersOct. 3, 2005 - Oct. 27 2005With her died the ability to speak about Roe in code The Miers nomination went off the rails about seven seconds after it was announced, in large part because President Bush tried to mollify his base in code. The nominee had no background or record as a movement conservative and no written promises to be the kind of right-wing activist who would spearhead a Supreme Court counterrevolution. What she had--according to the president--was a "good heart." She was a religious person and she was loyal to him. That, Bush thought, would suffice to assure everyone that she had it in for Roe v. Wade....
By Fred Barbash | October 27, 2005; 03:22 PM ET | Comments (2)
Video: Judiciary Committee Chairman Specter Reacts
Click below to watch reaction of Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) to the Miers withdrawal. var movieSrc = "http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/mmedia/player/player.swf?whichMode=normal&justify=left&playad=no&mediatype=stream&postdir=politics&postvideo=102705-10v&cuesfile=none&autoplay=no&starttime=0&endtime=0&largerver=none&image=none" ; //URL OF WHERE .SWF MOVIE IS PUBLISHED var movieWidth = "454" ; //FLASH MOVIE AND BACK-UP GRAPHIC WIDTH var movieHeight = "275" ; //FLASH MOVIE AND BACK-UP GRAPHIC HEIGHT var backupGraphic = "no" ; // If you have a backup graphic "yes" or "no" var graphicSrc = "" ; var graphicLink = "" ; //requiredVersion: Change this to 8 to test your alternate text. var requiredVersion = 7; // version the user needs to view site (max is 7, min is 2) var useRedirect = false; // "true" loads new flash or non-flash page into browser // "false" embeds movie or alternate html code into current page // set next three vars if useRedirect is true... var flashPage = "flash.htm"; // the location of the flash movie page var noFlashPage =...
By washingtonpost.com Editors | October 27, 2005; 01:22 PM ET | Comments (1)
Video: Senate Leaders React
Click below to watch a video of the Senate's majority and minority leaders reacting to the withdrawal of the Miers nomination: var movieSrc = "http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/mmedia/player/player.swf?whichMode=normal&justify=left&playad=no&mediatype=stream&postdir=politics&postvideo=102705-3v&cuesfile=none&autoplay=no&starttime=0&endtime=0&largerver=none&image=none" ; //URL OF WHERE .SWF MOVIE IS PUBLISHED var movieWidth = "454" ; //FLASH MOVIE AND BACK-UP GRAPHIC WIDTH var movieHeight = "275" ; //FLASH MOVIE AND BACK-UP GRAPHIC HEIGHT var backupGraphic = "no" ; // If you have a backup graphic "yes" or "no" var graphicSrc = "" ; var graphicLink = "" ; //requiredVersion: Change this to 8 to test your alternate text. var requiredVersion = 7; // version the user needs to view site (max is 7, min is 2) var useRedirect = false; // "true" loads new flash or non-flash page into browser // "false" embeds movie or alternate html code into current page // set next three vars if useRedirect is true... var flashPage = "flash.htm"; // the location of...
By washingtonpost.com Editors | October 27, 2005; 11:44 AM ET | Email a Comment
The 'Krauthammer Cover'
THE EXCERPT from Charles Krauthammer's Oct. 21 column:The Senate cannot confirm her unless it has this information. And the White House cannot allow release of this information lest it jeopardize executive privilege. Hence the perfectly honorable way to solve the conundrum: Miers withdraws out of respect for both the Senate and the executive's prerogatives, the Senate expresses appreciation for this gracious acknowledgment of its needs and responsibilities, and the White House accepts her decision with the deepest regret and with gratitude for Miers's putting preservation of executive prerogative above personal ambition. Faces saved. And we start again....
By Fred Barbash | October 27, 2005; 11:38 AM ET | Comments (12)
Orin Kerr: On the 'Krauthammer Cover'
Orin Kerr at the Volokh Conspiracy:So Harriet Miers has withdrawn her candidacy under what seems to be the Krauthammer cover -- a move that President Bush was telegraphing pretty strongly over the last few days by repeatedly mentioning that obtaining White House documents was an important "red line" he absolutely would not cross. That's a relief. ...
By Fred Barbash | October 27, 2005; 11:31 AM ET | Email a Comment
National Review: 'Gloating ... Unseemly'
David From editorial in National Review Online: No conservative should be in a celebratory mood now that Harriet Miers has withdrawn her nomination. For one thing, reasonable conservatives who considered her unqualified for the Supreme Court conceded that she has had an accomplished career and that she has served the president loyally and, for the most part, well. Gloating would be unseemly. For another thing, the object of conservative agitation against Miers was to get a solid justice confirmed. So the conservative opponents of her nomination have not yet won a victory....
By Fred Barbash | October 27, 2005; 11:22 AM ET | Comments (1)
David Frum
David Frum at National Review Online:OCT. 27, 2005: A GREAT DAY FOR AMERICAN DEMOCRACYThe system worked. And as we all hoped, once again the president got the big decision right. Thank you to all the many NRO readers who have joined this fight - and a special thanks to all who have written so kindly to me today. More later .......
By Fred Barbash | October 27, 2005; 11:19 AM ET | Comments (6)
Sen. Leahy
Statement from Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), ranking Senate Judiciary Committee Democrat: "I spoke to Ms. Miers this morning and I wished her well. "I look forward to consulting with the President on his third nominee to succeed Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court, and I hope it is a decision he approaches with the necessary independence from partisan factions. All Americans appreciate Justice O'Connor's willingness to continue her service long past when she had intended to retire from the Court."...
By Fred Barbash | October 27, 2005; 11:13 AM ET | Comments (3)
Sen. Kerry Reacts
"Caught up in a wave of scandal and concerns about the war in Iraq, the President has allowed right wing interest groups to decide the fate of his Supreme Court nominee rather than stand up to his ultra conservative base. It's a telling statement about the instability and ideological confusion facing the White House and the Republican Party, said Sen. John Kerry (D.-Mass.) Statement from Kerry:"This nomination was mishandled from the beginning. The President nominated someone whose qualifications he alone knew, then refused to disclose the only documents that would give the Senate even a hint of his nominee's judicial philosophy. If the President really believed Harriet Miers was the most qualified candidate for the Supreme Court, he made a terrible mistake refusing to fight for her and capitulating to the right wing. "In this difficult moment, it's even more important for the President to choose a nominee in the...
By Fred Barbash | October 27, 2005; 11:04 AM ET | Comments (11)
Martha Barnett, Former ABA President
Martha W. Barnett, the first female chair of the American Bar Association House of Delegates:I'm saddened that such an exceptional lawyer and person has been forced to withdraw by people pushing political agendas. Harriet Miers doesn't deserve this. She is highly qualified to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court and would have put the interest of the country and the rule of law above any personal or political interest. This shows how politicized appointments to the Supreme Court have become. She should have had the opportunity to go to the hearings and show the nation her experience and qualifications that she has brought to the court....
By Fred Barbash | October 27, 2005; 11:00 AM ET | Email a Comment
NARAL Statement
Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, stated that President Bush's withdrawal of Harriet Miers as a nominee for the Supreme Court demonstrates that the radical right is in charge of judicial selection for this White House. Click here for full statement....
By Fred Barbash | October 27, 2005; 10:58 AM ET | Comments (4)
Planned Parenthood Statement
Press Release from Planned Parenthood Federation:Following the withdrawal by Harriet Miers of her candidacy for a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court, Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) warned that the decision should serve as an alert to all Americans of the growing power of extremist fringe groups to set the national agenda. "Miers' withdrawal is a warning to all Americans that extremist groups are setting President Bush's national agenda. Miers was not extremist enough for groups that seek to impose a narrow ideological agenda on all of us," said PPFA Interim President Karen Pearl....
By Fred Barbash | October 27, 2005; 10:54 AM ET | Comments (3)
