Ms Miers had made her name in the Lone Star State, but has done little to impress the legal establishment and still less to appeal to the Republican Right.

They had hoped for someone with a clear anti-abortion record in the hope that the Supreme Court will move to the Right and eventually overturn the 1973 Roe v Wade case setting out the legal right for abortion.

Doubt was cast over Ms Miers's conservative credentials when it emerged that in 1988 she donated $1,000 to the presidential campaign of Al Gore, the Democratic candidate.
I could never understand for sure whether the media just doesnt understand conservatives or are being deliberately misleading with this type of reporting. Sure, there are some out there who want to make nominations based on specific issues only- but it hasnt been me, nor has it been any conservative pundit that Im familiar with. It wasnt the fact that we didnt know her abortion views that we didnt like her- it was that she was a crony and she had no constitutional background. We had no idea on whether she would rule on the actual Constitution, or just make crap up like Breyer- other than Bush saying 'trust me'.

All, right, bring on Brown!
I've been saying that since before Roberts.