Better Soundbite, Please

Senator Mike DeWine, Republican of Ohio, speaks in support of Harriet Miers, but... is this what you want to say about a person widely known as the President's personal attorney?

"She is somebody who has gone out late at night to get someone out of jail."

I don't want to know any more.

The WaPo describes two "That Went Well" meetings with increasingly unhappy Reps:

A day after Bush publicly beseeched skeptical supporters to trust his judgment on Miers, a succession of prominent conservative leaders told his representatives that they did not. Over the course of several hours of sometimes testy exchanges, the dissenters complained that Miers was an unknown quantity with a thin résumé and that her selection -- Bush called her "the best person I could find" -- was a betrayal of years of struggle to move the court to the right.

Which is correct.  And here the presentation hit what we hope is rock-bottom:

At one point in the first of the two off-the-record sessions, according to several people in the room, White House adviser Ed Gillespie suggested that some of the unease about Miers "has a whiff of sexism and a whiff of elitism." Irate participants erupted and demanded that he take it back. Gillespie later said he did not mean to accuse anyone in the room but "was talking more broadly" about criticism of Miers.

Oh, for heaven's sake - accusing his own side of sexism?  I don't suppose it would have been sexist to smack him one.

Well, cheer up, it could always get worse.  Maybe tomorrow Ed Gillespie will remind everyone that Harriet is unmarried, wink, and then suggest that her opponents are homophobes.

UPDATE:  The Heretik has a comprehensive and entertaining round-up which almost asks, if you've lost Peggy Noonan, how can you win?

Comments

[kim]

You know, I don't think this guy is beholden to anyone, nor to his legacy. But he may be righteous enough not to let it corrupt him or make him careless.

And he's an exceptionally good judge of people. Better than anyone criticizing him for this choice.
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[Dwilkers]

I guess Gillespie has been taking his talking points from Boxer or something. Just about the last way he should push this nomination is by accusing folks on the right of sexism or elitism.

[Jim E.]

"And he's an exceptionally good judge of people."

Mike Brown?
Rafeal Palmerio?
KGBer Putin? ("I've looked into his soul.")
Chalabi?
Karl Rove?

[jeff]

Noonan is good, but also part of the Eastern Elite. Besides, I like any Texas broad who packs heat

[Miriam]

I trust the president's judgment. He knows this woman's character well.

Your resume isn't the only thing about you that matters.

[kim]

I don't know who Palmeiro is but Brown was fine, Chalabi is Master of the Bazaar, Putin is master of more than you are and Bush didn't say what he saw there in his soul, but he is certainly being circumspect with him..

Karl Rove: I'd say he and Bush are probably equally good judges of people.

You don't think the same of these people as Bush does. Maybe you should. Defer to a better judge.
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[Jim Miller]

How can she win? By getting the votes of 51 senators. (Or, most likely, the votes of 50 senators and Cheney. I am pretty sure the vice president can break ties on nominations, but haven't checked.)

And which senators might vote for Miers for political reasons? Any who are worried about the votes from women; that's all 100. And any who want the votes of evangelicals; that's most of the senators.

By the way, those who are attacking her as unqualified should admit that nominating Clarence
Thomas was a mistake for exactly the same reasons. (If that argument isn't obvious to you, read Kevin Martin's op-ed in today's Boston Globe.)