I’ve been skeptical about all the talk about a conservative revolt over the Miers nomination. Basically, I’ll believe it when I see a Republican senator coming out on the record saying he (she) will vote against the nomination, and not before.
I’m starting to wonder, however, if we can’t be nearing that tipping point with all these “negative” stories (from a conservative’s point of view) coming out about her.
Two more striking examples have come out today. First, John Fund on the selection process:
Mr. Card is said to have shouted down objections to Ms. Miers at staff meetings. A senator attending the White House swearing-in of John Roberts four days before the Miers selection was announced was struck by how depressed White House staffers were during discussion of the next nominee. He says their reaction to him could have been characterized as, “Oh brother, you have no idea what’s coming.”
A last minute effort was made to block the choice of Ms. Miers, including the offices of Vice President Cheney and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. It fell on deaf ears. First Lady Laura Bush, who went to Southern Methodist University at the same time as Ms. Miers, weighed in. On Sunday night, the president dined with Ms. Miers and the first lady to celebrate the nomination of what one presidential aide inartfully praised to me as that of “a female trailblazer who will walk in the footsteps of President Bush.”
Ouch. And then Drudge has come out with this damning nugget from Miers’ closet:
The DRUDGE REPORT has obtained a copy of sworn testimony given by Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers in 1990 in which she said that she “wouldn�t belong to the Federalist Society” � a conservative and libertarian lawyers’ organization � because it was “politically charged.”
But Bush’s Supreme Court nominee did not include in that catagory the NAACP and other liberal groups, the transcript reveals!
At a minimum, these leaks suggest there’s someone in the White House interested in undermining the nomination. If GOP senators are looking for a reason to oppose Miers, they may soon find cover. We’ve still got several more weeks of revelations to go.