Supreme Court Nominee, Round Two

Well, I was right when I said the pick would probably be named today. However, I expected to be awake by the time it was named. Harriet Miers, White House Counsel -- I'd heard rumors about her in recent days (that is, rumors that she'd be picked). Currently, I don't know a ton about her, but I can't say that she's a pick that thrills me (that, of course, could change). Bush is facing a few cronyism charges at the moment, and this nominee does not help those (she's served him in one capacity or another since the mid-1990's, I believe). Interestingly, in the 1988 election cycle, she donated to the Gore for president campaign, the Bentsen re-election campaign (Texas Democrat senator, had previously beaten George H.W. Bush in an election, and would wind up being the Democrats' vice-presidential nominee that fall against the George H.W. Bush-Dan Quayle GOP ticket), and the DNC. Perhaps that will mute some criticism, but it's not something I find comforting (she did donate to Republicans in the 1996 and 2000 election cycles). I'll get more info on her and post either later today or tomorrow. Oh, one last remark on the fact that she's not previously served as a judge -- Rehnquist had not been a judge before becoming a justice on the Supreme Court and Chief Justice John Roberts only served for a couple years (can't recall figures on others off the top of my head, but I think Thomas only had a short term as a judge before joining the Supreme Court as well), so previous judicial experience isn't nearly as big a deal as it sounds like (and I'm sure you all will see news reports mentioning that lack of experience). My only real hope on the matter is that Bush knows what he's doing, which I have some confidence in, but still don't think this was the best pick.