It looks like she was a Democrat up until 1994. In 1988 she supported Algore for President and not George the First. See her political contributions at:
http://www.newsmeat.com/washington_political_donations/Harriet_Miers.php

We may have a Souter in skirts!

Neal

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"Nomination Concerns

The subject of Roe vs. Wade is highly topical in this most recent nomination, due in no small part to views from both the political left and right that this landmark Supreme Court decision is not especially well-founded legislatively. Providing significant insight into this finding, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a moderate to left-leaning justice, has consistently supported abortion rights and joined in the Supreme Court's opinion striking down Nebraska's partial-birth abortion law in Stenberg v. Carhart (2000), however she has criticized the court's ruling in Roe v. Wade as terminating a nascent, democratic movement to liberalize abortion laws which she contends might have built a more durable consensus in support of abortion rights.

"Because Harriet Miers has never previously served as a judge there are no previous judicial decisions on which to form an idea about her positions. Thus, relatively little is known about her position on many issues. Valley View Christian Church in Dallas, Texas was Miers' church from 1980 until more recent years; it is a self-proclaimed mission-oriented "new testament church" theologically evangelist and bible-centered and not tradition-centered nor affiliated with major protestant groups (in short, a local congregation with the usual modern evangelical conservative philosophy). When pastor Ron Key was asked about Miers' views on abortion, he said, "her personal views are consistent with that of evangelical Christians... You can tell a lot about her from her decade of service in a conservative church." He also said, "We [Valley View Church] believe in the biblical approach to marriage."

"Qualifications

"Critics of the Miers nomination point to the fact that she has never been a judge and never once argued a case before the Supreme Court. Responding to charges of cronyism, the White House notes 10 of the 34 Justices appointed since 1933, including President John Kennedy's close friend Justice Byron White, were appointed from positions within the president's administration. Former Chief Justices William Rehnquist and Earl Warren also had no prior judicial experience prior to their appointment." From: Harriet Ellan Miers at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriet_Miers

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What exactly about Miers makes her a "safe" pick? Because she's a woman? I think that Democrats will try and stonewall anyone that the President choses regardless of gender. The fact that she's never been a judge before simply gives the left more ammunition to use against her. How conservative she is or will be is yet to be determined; however, I do not think that Bush would intentionally choose someone he thought liberal, even if he was trying for a "safe" pick.

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I agree, LB, that Bush should have chosen a hard-core conservative who has the experience and record to show that he or she would uphold the constitution. A fight --however hard-- would have been cleansing (especially since we would win it).

However, I don't think that Miers is a "safe pick" despite her lack of experience. Democrats will try to stonewall anyone that Bush nominates. The fact that she's never been a judge before simply gives the liberals an easy way to shoot her down. Add on to that how many conservatives are looking askance at this nomination and you begin to appreciate how "hard" a sell this might turn out to be for Bush.

That being said, I don't think it is enough for Bush to tell us that she is conservative. She may very well do a great job in the SC (at this point, there is no way of knowing either way). But I want to know if she can put her own political philosophies aside, whatever they might be, and judge based on what the constitution says or implies, rather than on what she may want the constitution to say.

Lastly, it might not matter how much we trust Bush anymore. He is not up for reelection, and presidents usually relax a bit in their second term ... now is when we'll see what Bush is really like -- without the pressure of worring about running again.

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OK, I can see where some of the conservative are coming from. I happen to be the most conservative person that I know, seriously.

Why are people making such a huge fuss about this? Has it occurred to people that the liberals have planned this reaction all along, which is why the news media has constantly shown pictures of Harriet Miers together with 'Dirty' Harry Reid?

I've thought this was a plot all along. They tried the exact same thing with John Roberts, but it was a little too clear how conservative he really is.

There's no doubt to me that Miers is a conservative. Just today, news comes out about how religious she is.

Here is how screwed up the mindset of politics is in our country in the first place. The litmus test for all Justice nominees are their position on abortion. How can this be the main issue, when there are so many worse things with our country right now? All people care about is abortion?

I would love a hardcore conservative in the Supreme Court, but ask yourself this: are there currently any hardcore Justices serving the Bench now? Is Bush that hardcore? Everybody has this idea that Bush is this hardcore conservative. He's not even half of the conservative Reagan was, or Gingrich. I wish he was, but I find myself questioning the President sometimes. His spending isn't exactly conservative. I like the guy, don't get me wrong, and at least he knows what the 'meaning of is' is.

We don't have to agree with the President 100% of the time to still be loyal to him. We all have a similar motivation. It's the movement. We despise liberalism, and the political correctness associated with it. We laugh at it.

I feel that I will give Bush the benefit of the doubt, since many of his other decisions, I have found to be well though through and wise. If he's wrong about Miers, we'll just impeach him, haha, just kidding (my impression of Dick Durbin, our unholy Illinois Senator).

~Feed The Elephant~
http://brentroos.blogspot.com

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