October 27, 2005
Miers Withdraws
Miers Withdraws Supreme Court Nomination
Harriet Miers withdrew her nomination to be a Supreme Court justice Thursday in the face of stiff opposition and mounting criticism about her qualifications.
Bush said he reluctantly accepted her decision to withdraw, after weeks of insisting that he did not want her to step down. He blamed her withdrawal on calls in the Senate for the release of internal White House documents that the administration has insisted were protected by executive privilege.
Round 1 is over. Now comes the interesting lull over the next nomination. I know my first choice is Janice Rogers Brown, but I think she might be a little too libertarian for Bush. But it’s time to start putting pressure on Bush to nominate her instead.
I know I shouldn’t completely engage in blog triumphalism, but this story started it:
The nominations of John Roberts and Ms. Miers, the first Supreme Court nominations in 11 years, were also the first to test the power of the blogosphere to shape debate on a complex, fast-moving story.
“A lot of staff working on this read a lot of blogs,” says Don Stewart, a spokesman for Sen. John Cornyn (R) of Texas, a member of the Judiciary Committee.
“[Blogs] have an effect on the questions that get asked about a nominee,” says Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond.
A small cottage industry of judicial blogs tackled nominee’s qualifications, records and documents, as well as commenting on hearings in real time. Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, aka the “cybersenator” and first Senate blogger, set up a dedicated blog to cover the Roberts confirmation hearings.
Let’s keep up the good work, and make sure we get out ahead of the White House so they don’t make this mistake again.
UPDATE: Miers’ letter of withdrawl, found at the Washington Post.
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Blogosphere 1, Cronyism 0 – Miers Withdraws
The Unrepentant Individual » Miers Withdraws
This is the best news I’ve heard in weeks. Now, I’m interested in who Bush will nominate next.
Personally, like Brad, I’m rooting for fellow Californian Janice Rogers Brown. Bush wil…
MIERS DEMISE AND THE IMAGINARY BLOG POWER
Once I heard about Harriet Miers’ withdrawal from consideration for the Supreme Court vacancy, I wondered how long it would take for some delusional right-wing blogger to claim credit for the event on behalf of the nattering nabobs of blogativit…