Now President George Bush has thrown a new ingredient into the controversy stew — one that might endear him to Evangelicals but could create more negative buzz and even chase more independent voters away: he now says Harrier Mier’s religion was a factor in him picking her for the Supreme Court:
WASHINGTON – President Bush said Wednesday that Harriet Miers’ religious beliefs figured into her nomination to the Supreme Court as a top-ranking Democrat warned against any “wink and a nod” campaign for confirmation.
“People are interested to know why I picked Harriet Miers,” Bush told reporters at the White House. “Part of Harriet Miers’ life is her religion.”
Bush, speaking at the conclusion of an Oval Office meeting with visiting Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski, said that his advisers were reaching out to conservatives who oppose her nomination “just to explain the facts.” He spoke on a day in which conservative James Dobson, founder of Focus on Family, said he had discussed the nominee’s religious views with presidential aide Karl Rove.
Oh, let’s cut away all the nicities, OK?
This is a barely-veiled legalistic and rhetorical code. We can already hear some talk show hosts (S-e-a-n) saying, “Well he said it was part of her LIFE and religion is her life so he didn’t say her religion is part of the reason he picked her.”
Oh that quote most certainly does. It suggests there was a “litmus test.”
So conservatives who are worrying about Miers might take that to heart: Bush has now all but come out and said he picked her because she’ll be against Roe Versus Wade. Vote to actually overturn it? Roe Versus Wade can be overturned by a death of a thousand bites. No matter what, Miers can be counted on to do that.
If Roe Versus Wade is conservatives’ prime concern, Bush’s statement will quell the furor. If it isn’t — if issues of competence, a paper trail, cronyism actually DO matter — then Bush’s statement won’t help and could even make things worse…particularly among conservatives who are true descendents of Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan.
There’s another Supreme Court opening? Let’s see, let’s pick a Jew this time. No, let’s pick a Catholic. No, let’s pick a Protestant. Hey: call Tom Cruise and ask if he knows of a good Scientologist judge — our party could use some big donations from those dorks in Hollywood..
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.