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October 27, 2005
GOP Base Plays Grinch
When President Bush appointed Harriet Miers, he gave all Democrats, and Senate Democrats in particular, a gift. With nothing in her background speaking to the towering intellect and laboriously developed judicial philosophy that a justice on the Supreme Court would need in order to resist the prevailing currents of society, Miers seemed unlikely to overturn Roe v. Wade or do anything to counteract the momentum the Lawrence v. Texas decision gave to gay rights. All Democrats had to do was hold their nose at the spectacle of such an appallingly unqualified justice and publicly praise her. It was a good deal.
Unfortunately, my former party has a special talent for failing to recognize political opportunities. The Democratic leadership went for the fleeting pleasure of taking cheap shots at a faltering President instead of thinking strategically, and as a result they now face the grim possibility that they will be helpless spectators as a truly polarizing nominee is pushed through and confirmed on a party-line vote.
To me this is shocking. The Bush administration nominated Miers to prevent a fight, and Democrats, apparently forgetting their numbers in the Senate, fought anyway. The next nominee will almost certainly be truly upsetting to those on the left.
Social conservatives should thank Harry Reid for his role in clearing Harriet Miers from the scene.
Posted by Audi Partem Alteram at October 27, 2005 11:43 PM
