It may be only a week ago, but, in his column today, David Broder is already rewriting the history of the Miers nomination in a rather obvious effort to justify in advance a Democratic filibuster of the Alito nomination.
The conservative screamers who shot down Miers can argue that they were fighting only for a “qualified” nominee, though it is plain that many of them wanted more — a guarantee that Miers would do their bidding and overrule Roe v. Wade . But whatever the rationale, the fact is that they short-circuited the confirmation process by raising hell with Bush. Certainly there can be no greater sin in a sizable bloc of sitting senators using long-standing Senate rules to stymie a nomination than a cabal of outsiders — a lynching squad of right-wing journalists, self-sanctified religious and moral organizations, and other frustrated power-brokers — rolling over the president they all ostensibly support.
This is nonsense. The uproar over Harriet Miers had nothing to do with Roe v. Wade and everything to do with her lack of qualifications. She withdrew her nomination (more likely the White House strongly encouraged her to withdraw) because it became clear that she would not have made it through the Judiciary Committee, much less the Senate. Quite simply, Miers was not qualified for the position she was nominated for, and withdrawing the nomination was the most appropriate course of action.
Nice try David, but I don’t think so.
Update: Ann Althouse has more to say about Broder’s column.
