Newsview: Withdrawal Shows Bush's Weakness

Well, this Newsview article is just the cherry on the cake olive in the Martini for Bush today:

Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers' sudden withdrawal underscores the strength of the social conservatives who form President Bush's political base and the weakness of a president buffeted by one political misfortune after another.

Her withdrawal came after restive conservatives mounted a stinging campaign against her credentials.

Heading into what may be the darkest days of his presidency, Bush still has an opportunity to regain the support of that rebellious bloc and avoid drifting earlier than usual into the lame duck status that eventually claims all second-term U.S. presidents.
...
Evangelicals, Republican women, Southerners and other critical groups in Bush's political coalition are worried about the direction the nation is headed and have been disappointed with his performance, AP-Ipsos polling has found. Core groups have grown increasingly disenchanted with Bush.

Oh my. Ok, now, for maximum glee, re-read the parts in bold. Then proceed.

I can't imagine how frustrated, disappointed, bitter, and enraged George must feel right now. He totally lost his face on this today. He appointed one of his cronies, nobody liked her, but he, stubborn as usual, said, "Trust me, she's the best candidate for the job, she'll be great. Trust me on this." But his closest allies replied with a resounding, "NO! Get rid of her!"

And today he was forced to.

The White House and its allies portrayed the withdrawal as one initiated by the nominee and accepted by a reluctant president.

After all, the former Texas corporate lawyer who was once Bush's personal attorney had been praised by the president just three weeks ago as the most qualified candidate for the post in the country.

And Specter told The Associated Press on Oct. 11 there was little chance Bush would withdraw the nomination: "Absolutely not. I think that would be a sign of incredible weakness."

How humiliating must that be. By calling her the most qualified candidate for the post, he implied anyone else will be less qualified. Nice feeling.

And Specter put it in perspective for all of us: HER WITHDRAWAL WOULD BE A SIGN OF INCREDIBLE WEAKNESS.

Well, it makes it all the more pleasing to witness...

And read what another champion of tactfulness had to say:

But Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., not a strong Bush supporter, may have offered a more candid view of conservatives like himself.

"The president in my opinion made a bad choice here," Lott told Fox News. "Occasionally that happens. She has dealt with it admirably. In a month, who will remember Harriet Miers?"

OH MY GOD!! That must have made Harriet feel just great.

So what happens next?

Democrats urged Bush to pick a moderate for the bench, but some expressed doubts that he would. "The way that political leaders move when they are facing challenges is back to their base," said Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass.

Conservatives were hopeful - but not assured - that Bush would turn to one of the dozen or so experienced conservative jurists he passed over in selecting Miers.

You mean one of the dozen or so experienced conservative jurists they hand-picked he passed over.

Way to go, George, you're doing a heck of a job.

Oh well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see.