A Fight
Mickey Kaus, on the fight that was avoided:
The Schumacher Strategy: Conservatives, a D.C. Republican friend tells me, wanted a fight over the O’Connor seat for its own sake–and not just for tacky fundraising and self-promotional reasons. They think they represent the majority position on judging; they needed a confrontation to draw the line and prove it. Plus a confirmation battle would be “consciousness-raising,” as we used to say on the left, serving (in theory) to actually increase their ranks.One reason the Miers nomination is in trouble on the right, then, is that it denies conservatives this instructive battle. It follows that a perverse-yet-promising strategy for Bush might be to give the ‘wingers what they want. Have Miers make some unnecessarily provocative right-wing noises during her testimony that gratuitously outrage liberals. A noisy confrontation would ensue. Then the liberals would be happy (they’d have something to say) and conservatives would be happy (they’d achieve their educational purposes).
Arguably Miers gets more votes this way than by pursuing a “stealth” course. Certainly she gets more enthusiastic support from Republicans, and Bush may get more political benefit. … Plus the ideological donnybrook would overshadow the cronyism issue, where Miers is most vulnerable. … Automotive Analogy! In Formula One racing, I’m told, when the top drivers sense their cars slipping in a turn, they step on the gas to go faster. Why? Because the extra speed means that the airfoils on their cars generate more downforce, giving the tires more traction and helping them around the curve. That’s why they make the big bucks! Call this the Schumacher Strategy, then. … Update: A strategy that stresses Miers “record of accomplishment,” on the other hand, is going in more or less the opposite direction–trying to slip her through without a fight
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