In a move welcomed by many conservatives, Harriet Miers withdrew her nomination this morning. While I was never as opposed to her as some conservatives (here, here, and here), I'm glad that she stepped down for a few reasons:
1) Choosing her was just a bad political move. Over the years Bush has shown solid political acumen. Choosing Miers just didn't make sense from a political perspective. He alienated his base in a time when his approval ratings were the lowest of his presidency.
2) She just was not good enough. Although I'm sure she was a good attorney, the Supreme Court is supposed to be the best of the best. There were many far more qualified conservative men and women to choose from. Now, hopefully, we'll get one.
3) Time for a battle over ideology. The Republicans have been accusing liberal judges of judicial activism. The Democrats have labeled many reasonable conservatives as "extremist" and "out of the mainstream." Well, if Bush picks someone good, we'll get to hear them explain why.
4) Bush can finally move the Court to the right. Miers' ideology was an unknown, and it was unlikely she'd be any more conservative than O'Connor. Bush campaigned on appointing judges in the mold of Scalia and Thomas, so now is his chance.
I also hope he forgoes his silly "let's pick a woman or minority" restriction, and chooses the best available candidate, no matter race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation.
Update: Here's the text of her withdrawal.
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