Miers Abandons Bid For High Court

Bush 'Reluctantly' Accepts Embattled Nominee's Request To Withdraw

(CBS/AP)  Specter said Miers should have been allowed to defend herself at hearings scheduled to start in less than two weeks. "Whether she would have been confirmed remains an open question. But at least she would have had the major voice in determining her own fate."

The Senate's Democratic leader, Harry Reid, one of the few Democrats who supported Miers, called her withdrawal a victory for the "radical right wing" of the Republican Party.

Miers' nomination had been under withering criticism ever since Mr. Bush announced her selection on Oct. 3. While the president's conservative backers had questions about her ideological purity, there were also widespread complaints about her lack of legal credentials, doubts about her ability and assertions of cronyism because of her longtime association with Mr. Bush.

As Miers met with individual senators over the past few weeks what was striking was how few Republicans emerged from those meetings saying they would support the president's nominee, reports Fuss.

Instead they were saying what Democrats usually do: that they need more information and don't know enough about Miers. A spokesman for Frist said the majority leader gave the White House a "frank assessment" of Miers situation on Wednesday night. Translation: a lot of Republicans weren't going to vote for her.

Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., one of the many conservatives who failed to back the president's choice, had praise for Miers' after her withdrawal, saying her "decision to put the interests of the country ahead of her own desires is further testament to her personal integrity."

Democrats, who mostly stayed on the sidelines during the Miers uproar, warned that if the president goes too far now to placate the conservatives who opposed her, he could end up in a fight with them over his next nominee.

"He must listen to all Americans, not just the far right," said Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts

Before Mr. Bush chose Miers on Oct. 3, speculation focused on Miers and two other Bush loyalists: Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, a longtime Bush friend who would be the first Hispanic on the court; and corporate lawyer Larry Thompson, who was the government's highest ranking black law enforcement official as deputy attorney general during Mr. Bush's first term.

A senior administration official said Gonzales and Thompson – both Bush confidantes with sparse records – would probably run into similar criticism as Miers.

Other candidates mentioned frequently include conservative federal appeals court judges Samuel Alito, J. Michael Luttig, Priscilla Owen, Karen Williams and Alice Batchelder; Michigan Supreme Court justice Maura Corrigan; and Maureen Mahoney, a frequent litigator before the high court. Alito was narrowly passed over for Miers, the official said.