HARRIET MIERS HAS WITHDRAWN HER NAME from nomination. You can see the text of her letter to President Bush in the Washington Post.
She’s to be commended for doing this. The White House made a dreadful error in nominating her, which it compounded by its ham-handed efforts in support of her candidacy, and this was perhaps the only way to ensure that it wouldn’t be a complete debacle for the Bush Administration. Let’s hope that they’ll do better the next time around. I’m not hoping for Alex Kozinski or anything — okay, well, I’m hoping — but we need a nominee who’ll meet the high expectations established by the Roberts appointment. That Miers wasn’t up to those standards is no discredit to her, as very few lawyers are. But it is a discredit to the White House, which nominated her. Now it’s a do-over, and they’d be well-advised not to blow it.