Funyuns and Mountain Dew

I know nothing about Harriet Miers. Then again, no one does. No decipherable political ideology on that one. But if she's a close personal friend of the President (supposedly his most favored subordinate at the White House) then I'm sure he's "looked into her soul" and seen... something. For that reason I'm willing to put it on faith that she's a social conservative, but that gives us very little to go on where she stands on personal privacy and economic issues.

From a purely political standpoint, one thing jumps out at me: how badly the Bush administration was knocked off its stride by the death of William Rehnquist in the middle of a confirmation battle. They had the perfect candidate to replace Justice O'Conner - conservative, unknown, eminently qualified, unblockable. But after elevating Roberts to the position of Chief Justice (thereby replacing a conservative with a conservative and wasting their "perfect" candidate in a relatively easy confirmation fight), the administration is forced to take a gamble on yet another "stealth candidate" if it wishes to effect change in the court. Had Roberts been confirmed to replace the wobbly O'Conner, the battle to replace Rehnquist with a fellow conservative would have been far easier.

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