Miers: Another Clarence Thomas?

I couldn't remeber where I had seen this article. Thanks to Flopping Aces for reminding me.

The Center for Local Government: Local Liberty: From my experience in the Thomas court nominations, I recall many of the accusations now being hurled at Harriet Miers. (See, most recently, this attack by Bork and this story; Specter chimes in.) Thomas, for whom I was a special assistant (1986-90) when he was Chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, was called a lightweight scholar, an affirmative action appointee, and even a dangerous thinker for proposing that the Declaration of Independence gave meaning to the Constitution. Those were conservative criticisms. Thomas supporter George Will referred to his "half-baked" natural law theories.

There were grimaces when the first President Bush called him the most qualified nominee -- which of course he was. (I dissent somewhat from Confirm Them's account, which confirms me in the flaws of conservative criticism of Meirs.)

But he defied all these criticisms to become the best originalist justice on the Court and the leading conservative government official in America. Does the Thomas nomination offer a guide to understanding Miers?

As I have argued before, President Bush has a strategy with the Meirs nomination, to create a Roberts Court in a different image (hoping he can have at least another appointment). Most of Thomas's supporters and critics regarded him as a black conservative instead of a bold thinker who saw the need to preserve freedom by undoing the bureaucratic state. To have said that openly would of course have been fatal to his nomination prospects. (See No Left Turns.)

We have a better view of Bush's ambition for Miers in Senator Cornyn's defense of her, calling her a justice who would bring the "dangerously out of touch" court "back down to earth." This means not just replacing one justice with another but altering the public perception of the court as well. Hence Meirs' faith plays a political role. To tame the Court we need a combination of skills: Thomas's originalism, Scalia's rhetorical brilliance, Roberts' legal skills, and now Miers' practical experience, producing a plain reading of the Constitution.

At first it seems odd that conservatives seem to be the ones ready to filibuster (led by Trent Lott?) over a lost intellectual feast/food-fight. In fact, it reflects the narrowness of conservative thinking, which has focused on replacing one justice with another, instead of considering changing the entire institution. Still the White House must have a campaign strategy for her, and she needs to impress. See Power Line's warnings.

UPDATE: Is George Will a constitutional Gnostic?

Hugh Hewitt on Miers' conservative detractors. His update links to this post.

UPDATE 2: Beldar reports on Miers' impressive record as a litigator, via Steven Hayward at NLT.

See previous Miers ruminations in our Courts file.