I've been wondering how long it would take for Ms. Mier's detractors to figure out that if she wasn't to be trusted on the SCOTUS she sure shouldn't be the main gatekeeper for those who would be getting the nomination to sit on the Court. Sounds like it's dawning on folks.
I agree it was a good selling point, but having had some time to reflect on what happened and on some of the comments from Senators, I have come to the conclusion that Roberts did such a great job in hearings that they used him as the bench mark. They saw Miers as falling too far below that mark and were afraid to put her up. Had Roberts come second and after Miers, it would have been entirely different. She would have got the hearing I think.
I think this affected the argument, and screwed the pooch for her.....so to speak. Personally, I was not holding her to a Roberts standard. I was trying to be fair minded.
There likely is not a second Roberts in the offing. In fact, I'm not so damned sure about the first one.
Miers deserved that hearing, rise, fall or blow it, no amount of time or talk will ever convince me otherwise. It is unfortunate, but the rhetoric before and after has really hurt the coalition and will result in future damages. It has revealed a serious disagreement over the president and the agenda. This won't go away.......IMO (not this time)
Politically, their are three roads a politician can take. The left fork, the center and the right fork.
Candidates usually can take any one of the three and win big by appealing to one of the others while running in the center. This adds distance between the center and the right flank and makes appealing to both much more difficult for a politician. (the Dem's have had the same problem, and now we have it)
It will complicate things in 06, and I think, open the third party door wide, by 08. On both sides! Causing a minority elected president once again.
Because of the party defections and the recent behavior, I think the unity will suffer more on our side and we will lose.
Based on that snapshot, the candidate will likely be a centrist, and not a conservative. A candidate that is much further left of even Bush.
This is the opposite reaction that the conservatives were trying to create and they will be quite disappointed. Some will stay home, and others will scatter to third parties or party, in the final vote, causing a loss.
That's my prediction, and time will tell the story if I am right, but it really is just a matter of history repeating and it did not have to be that way. Not at all.