In Their Own Words: President Bush's Political Lifesaver: "Mud, Blood and Beer"

Flush with victory from the right-wing campaign to pressure Harriet Miers to withdraw from consideration, the Radical Right was begging the president to deliver a fight over her replacement. After having handed President Bush one of the most stinging defeats and public humiliations of his presidency, the Right demanded that he return with a nominee who possessed ‘impeccable’ Right Wing credentials, a long paper trail to prove it, and whose nomination would be sure to start a fight.

Samuel Alito is that nominee. President Bush has now given the Right everything it asked for.

Fighting for Control

The Right’s main goal for the last several decades has been to gain ideological dominance on the Supreme Court and turn its extremist agenda into the law of the land. As explained by Rick Scarborough, president of Vision America and acting chairman for the Judeo-Christian Council for Constitutional Restoration, the retirement of Justice Sandra Day O’Connor presented President Bush with a “God-given opportunity to change the balance on Supreme Court. On issue after issue — abortion, sodomy, public display of The Ten Commandments — O'Connor has sided with the court's liberal bloc. Time and again, Justice O'Connor and her colleagues have used the Constitution as an excuse to force weird social experiments on the nation."

Though most on the Right were relatively happy with Bush’s nomination of John Roberts, many believed that they had been betrayed with the Miers nomination. The Radical Right opponents of Miers began publicly and privately pressuring Bush to withdraw her name, then organized and raised money to sink her nomination — in large part because she did not appear to be the ideological zealot they insisted the president had promised them.

Those who had unashamedly worked to demonstrate that Miers was not a qualified jurist with sufficient conservative credentials began to praise her “courage” and applaud her “personal sacrifice” — the minute she withdrew her name. At the same time, they informed President Bush in no uncertain terms that the best way to recover from this defeat was to pick a fight — this time with the Democrats.

As the Wall Street Journal editorial board said: “The best way Mr. Bush can counter the ‘capitulation’ charges is to show that he's not afraid of a political fight.” And that is exactly what others on the Right immediately began encouraging him to do. In the words of William Kristol, “this is the moment to go on the offensive.”

Right-wing columnist Cal Thomas advised the president that “Harriet Miers' withdrawal offers an opportunity for the president to re-charge his base” by giving them “the ideological and constitutional battle they've been requesting.” Fred Barnes likewise told the president he now had an opportunity to “rally conservatives … and rebuild his political base … a fight would be good for [him].” The National Review, which was relentless in its criticism of Miers, and President Bush, says that having a “fight [with Democrats] could be the way out of the president's current trough.”

Chuck Muth of Citizen’s Outreach, an organization that believes government “has become too big, too expensive and too intrusive,” seemed giddy with anticipation while suggesting that Bush pick “the type of high-quality conservative candidate which the right would salivate over and the left would have a conniption over, setting up the ‘Mother of All Confirmation Battles.’ … It’s gonna be an old-fashioned bar brawl, complete with mud, blood and beer. Oh, what a glorious constitutional fight it will be.”

The Washington Times summed up the Right’s position when it reported that “conservative leaders who helped force the withdrawal of Harriet Miers said yesterday that President Bush must now appoint someone whose judicial philosophy matches that of the two most conservative justices on the Supreme Court — and said they would accept nothing less.”

It is clear that the Right would not tolerate Miers’ apparent inability to meet their rigid ideological standards and, having forced her to withdraw, the Right sent President Bush the message that, if he wanted to regain their support, he had better give them an ideologically pure replacement.

And that is exactly what he has done.

In the Mold of Scalia, Thomas, and Bork — Bush Delivered as Promised

Those who were just one week ago furiously criticizing Miers, and the president for nominating her, have changed their tune and are now hailing the president and his new nominee.

“Americans for Better Justice”, a coalition formed for the sole purpose of opposing Miers’ nomination, stated it was proud to “join with President Bush and conservatives nationwide in calling for the speedy confirmation of Judge Samuel Alito as the next Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.”

The National Review, which had railed against the Miers nomination, at one point calling it “rich in embarrassments,” responded to Alito’s nomination by proclaiming that he “is a more reassuring nominee even than John Roberts was” and said “President Bush deserves credit for having the good judgment to nominate him.”

Concerned Women for America, which also openly opposed Miers, said “Judge Alito has always been one of our top choices for the Supreme Court,” while the National Clergy Council rejoiced that “Judge Alito has a proven track record of respect for the original intent of the framers of the constitution when it comes to the sanctity of life, the sanctity of marriage, and the public acknowledgment of God.”

The Judicial Confirmation Network, which was all but silent regarding the Miers nomination, quickly came out strongly in favor of Alito: “The President has obviously chosen based on objective merit. Judge Alito is the best, in terms of legal credentials, judicial experience, intellectual ability, fairmindedness, and faithfulness to the Constitution and the role of the Court as a neutral and nonpolitical branch of government.”

Operation Rescue boldly proclaimed that with Alito’s nomination “Roe's Days Are Numbered … We believe that this nomination may fulfill Bush's promise to appoint Justices in the mold of Scalia and Thomas … We are trusting that we are now on the fast-track to derailing Roe v. Wade as the law of the land.”

Rick Scarborough, head of the Judeo-Christian Council for Constitutional Restoration, wrote in an email to supporters: “The president has fulfilled his campaign pledge to appoint Supreme Court justices in Thomas/Scalia mold.”

Those who wanted a fight over the confirmation of Miers' replacement were quite pleased with Alito. As David Frum, the man who more or less led the charge against Harriet Miers, said, “President Bush has made a perfect pick for the Supreme Court in Samuel Alito. There may be a fight over this nomination, but it is a fight that will unite conservatives in support of the president and his fine choice. And in the end, it is a fight that conservatives will win.”

Syndicated columnist and commentator Tony Snow was reported to proclaim “that he loves the Alito pick as much as he hated the Harriet Miers nomination.” Newsmax quotes Snow as saying “By selecting Alito, the president shows that he has learned that this is not a time to run from a fight. It’s time to challenge everyone and their principles... Prepare for an ugly fight in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Let’s welcome that fight.”

Priests for Life “thanked President Bush... for acting swiftly to announce a nominee for the Supreme Court,” saying “[We] welcome the debate over 'conservative values.' The nation is in a culture war, and there's no need to hide that fact.”

Even Eugene Delgaudio of Public Advocate, an organization that proudly proclaims it was “the first group to oppose the Miers nomination and one of the few conservative groups to oppose the Roberts nomination to the supreme court,” was “elated by Bush's pick … Although we opposed the Roberts and Miers nominations, we will fight vigorously for Judge Alito.”

Miers’ One-Time Supporters

The American Center for Law and Justice, which supported the Miers nomination, was likewise elated with her replacement: “The nomination of Judge Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court of the United States is an incredibly wise choice by President Bush. President Bush promised that he would nominate Justices in the mold of Justices Scalia and Thomas. In choosing Judge Alito for the high court, President Bush has done just that.”

Shortly after the nomination was announced, the ACLJ’s Jay Sekulow appeared alongside Pat Robertson on the “700 Club”, and the two could barely contain their excitement, with Sekulow, in Robertson’s words, wearing a “smile from ear to ear.” Sekulow called the nomination a “grand slam” and boasted that Judge Alito “had clearly ruled in our favor” on abortion issues and that he had also ruled “our way” on school prayer and federalism issues. Sekulow went on to predict that Alito will be confirmed, but stated that it would not come without a fight because Democrats realize that “the court has just moved significantly to a conservative side here with this nomination.” [Watch the Video — Broadband or Dial-Up]

Focus on the Family Action’s James Dobson, who had cautiously supported Miers and was greatly relieved when she withdrew, announced that he was “extremely pleased by President Bush's selection of Judge Samuel Alito.”

Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission and steadfast supporter of the Miers nomination, likewise lauded the selection of Samuel Alito: “The president has once again fulfilled his campaign promise to nominate to our nation’s federal judiciary strict constructionist, original intent jurists of the first rank.”

Right-Wing Tells Bush “Bring it On!”

When Harriet Miers withdrew her nomination, Human Events explained that the Right now expected President Bush to “seize [the] opportunity” to “nominate someone who is not merely an originalist, but an originalist with a paper trail to prove it.” As for concerns that such a nominee would surely lead to a fight with Senate Democrats, Human Events had only three words of advice: “Bring it on!”

President Bush took that advice to heart, according to Matthew Franck, writing on the National Review’s “Bench Memos” blog: “[In nominating Alito] George W. Bush has effectively said, ‘bring it on!’”

The Right’s opposition to Miers had little to do with her qualifications or potential conflicts about internal White House documents. Rather, it was rooted in a suspicion that she would fail to tilt the balance on the Supreme Court and help advance the Right Wing agenda. For that reason, the Right destroyed its own president’s nomination.

After the Miers “misstep,” President Bush fell into line and rewarded his base with a “perfect pick;” one even more beloved by the Right than John Roberts.