Bush's new nominee

America greets Bush's new nominee with a great big "WHO?"

Just like Roberts, most people have never heard of Miers. By most people, I'm not just refering to average Americans who don't know who Bill Frist is, or who are more likely to recognize Martha Stewart than Dick Cheney. I mean people who live inside the Beltway, read the Washington Post every day, and actually care whether Tom DeLay goes to jail or not.

It seems like Bush's nomination strategy is a big duck and cover. Nominate someone completely unknown, expect the GOP to push him/her through, and don't reveal too many details. It worked with Roberts, and half the Democrats voted for him even though he was a shot in the dark. (Google the word "backbone" and I doubt you will see many elected Democrats listed, except with "lack of" at the start.) Does Bush really fear a Clarence Thomas-scale fight in a Senate which is 55% Republican and 22% jellyfish Democrats?

Is Roberts the 'roll-back the New Deal" lawyer he was under Reagan? Or was his pro bono work for the Romer case a sign that he actually believes that gays have civil rights? By the time we know the answer to this, he will be well on his way to rewriting American Constitutional law.

I doubt we will come up with much for Miers. So far, her most prominent public position has been on the Dallas City Council. I grew up in the DFW area and I've never heard of her. Meirs move to the Supreme Court makes Brownie's leap from the International Arabian Horse Association to head of FEMA look like a small steeplechase jump.

Meirs legal resume may look good if you want her as a partner in your firm, but Judge Harry Stone has more courtroom experience than she does. How can she be expected to rule on Miranda Rights if she's never seen a criminal case from the bench's point of view? I'm surprised Bush didn't pick Judge Reinhold. At least he has business cards with "judge" printed on them.

This is another shot in the dark for Bush. Maybe he had a good interview with both of them and liked what he heard. Then again, did his dad know what he was getting in Souter, or did Nixon know he was appointing one of the most liberal benches in history? Only time will tell, and then it will be too late for us to do much about it.