Few regrets over Miers withdrawal News
Few regrets over Miers withdrawal

[JURIST] After Harriet Miers withdrew her nomination [JURIST report] to the US Supreme Court in a letter [PDF] to President Bush Thursday, Republican and Democratic Senators who had generally been lukewarm about her nomination and skeptical of her experience and credentials seemed ready to move on to a new candidate. Senate Judiciary Committee member Charles Schumer (D-NY) [official website] for instance described Miers as a "fine and capable person" who was "clearly the wrong [person for the] position." He urged the President "to choose a knowledgeable and mainstream successor in the mold of Sandra Day O'Connor." Other Senator who did not bemoan Miers' demise nonetheless expressed dismay about the nomination process that brought about her withdrawal. Judiciary Committee chairman Arlen Specter (R-PA) [official website] described the events that led to her decision to pull out as a "sad episode in the history of Washington, D.C." and described the treatment she has received as "really disgraceful." Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) [official website] was more explicit, saying "The radical right wing of the Republican Party killed the Harriet Miers nomination." AP has more.

Conservative Focus on the Family [advocacy website] founder James Dobson, who at one point seemed likely to be called to testify at Miers' confirmation hearing [JURIST report] about assurances allegedly made to him about Miers' views and likely rulings, commended [press release] President Bush for "wise decision in accepting Harriet Miers' withdrawal." He said he had been "increasingly concerned about her conservative credentials." Ralph Neas, president of the liberal People for the American Way [advocacy website], called the Miers nomination and withdrawal an "astonishing spectacle" that "demonstrates [that] the ultra-right wing dominance of Republican Party politics is total." NPR has more. US Newswire maintains a running list of press releases by groups reacting to the withdrawal of the Miers nomination.