Lafayette Journal and Courier

Local perspective: President should take his time
By Dan Shaw
and Sophia Voravong

The failure to get Harriet Miers appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court will pave the way for a more clearly conservative candidate next time.

That's what local political leaders and experts say could be the result of Thursday's move by Miers to withdraw as the nominee to the nation's highest court. The decision came after weeks of criticism from both liberals and conservatives, who complained that she lacked a clear judicial record.

Locally, Stephen Dyson, assistant professor of political science at Wabash College, said Miers failed to garner support from Republicans largely because few felt they had a sense of how she would act on the bench.

"They've spent a long time finding people who are reliably conservative on hot-button social issues," he said, "and there has been a long-term movement to battle what they saw as a liberal intelligentsia and a liberal Supreme Court."

James McCann, associate professor of political science at Purdue University, said Bush's mistake was thinking "he knew her so well, there'd be nothing else to discuss."

The only prudent thing for Bush to do, McCann said, "was spare himself, the Senate, the country and Harriet Miers from something that ultimately proved not successful."

Inquiries into Miers' background brought more questions about her lack of credentials rather than answers, he said.

McCann said Bush shouldn't rush into nominating another candidate. But when the time comes, it would be wise to choose an established judicial figure in a lower court, he said.

"He has some serious thinking to do," McCann said of Bush. "He chose to -- with a wink and a nod -- try to please his so-called conservative base. That obviously failed. He'll need more than a wink and a nod."

West Lafayette City Councilman, Randy Truitt, R-At Large, noted that part of the trouble with Miers was that her lack of judicial experience made it difficult to tell just how far to the right she leaned.

That was contrasted by Bush's successful appointment last month of John Roberts as the successor to Chief Justice William Rehnquist.

"At least with John Roberts, there was some background information that you could find some data points to hang your hat on," he said. "And with Miers, this wasn't there.

"It's going to be interesting to see what lessons are learned in regard to this situation.

"I kind of hope he spends some time and talks to a wide variety of individuals and comes up with someone who is acceptable so we can put this thing to a close."

Lafayette City Councilman Steve Meyer, D-At Large, said Bush's apparent failure to do just that with Miers is surprising.

"She's bowing out because the Senate is asking for all her documents, and I'm quite frankly shocked that they wouldn't have anticipated this type of problem before the nomination," he said. "I just think this is a signal that the Bush White House is in disarray."

Meyer says it appears Bush is feeling the pressure from the growing criticism over the war in Iraq and a CIA leak case involving his top political adviser, Karl Rove.

Meyer worried that could lead the president to desperately try to shore up conservative support.

"It appears he has bowed to some of the pressure -- to the conservatives in his own party," he said. "They've got that much influence on him. So I now worry about who the next nominee may be down the road."