Bush Defends Supreme Court Choice

President Bush, one day removed from making White House counsel Harriet Miers his second nominee to the Supreme Court, called her an "incredibly intelligent person" who is and will remain a "strict constructionist."

"This woman deserves to be on the bench," Mr. Bush said, urging Congress to expedite hearings and conduct a vote by the end of November.

In response to press questions about allegations of cronyism in Mr. Bush choosing a close friend as his nominee, the president said: "I know (Miers) well enough to know that she's not going to change. In 20 years from now she will still be the same person."

"People know we're close ... As a result of my friendship with Harriet, I know her strength of character."

But the president's nominee is causing a strange juxtaposition on Capitol Hill, with some Republicans unsure about her conservative credentials and some Democrats seemingly supporting her.

The mixed signals create some uncertainty about how Miers will be received in the Senate as the Judiciary Committee prepares for another round of confirmation hearings.

"If confirmed, I recognize that I will have a tremendous responsibility to keep our judicial system strong and to help ensure that the courts meet their obligations to strictly apply the laws and the Constitution," said Miers, who has worked on previous judicial nominations with many of the same senators who now will judge her candidacy.

In his first full news conference since May, Mr. Bush was asked if his White House counsel, who has never been a judge, is the most qualified for the job. Bush replied, "Yes, otherwise I wouldn't have put her on."

While she has never served as a judge, Mr. Bush said Miers will bring "a fresh approach" to the bench as a trial lawyer who was a leader in the Texas legal community.

President Bush challenged Democrats to avoid a partisan tone in the confirmation process. "The decision of whether or not there will be a fight is up to the Democrats," he said, urging Congress to put Miers on the bench by Thanksgiving.

Some Democrats planned for more of a fight than they expect Miers will garner within Congress, CBS News correspondent Susan Roberts reports. They said they would review Mr. Bush's new nomination with an open mind — causing some to think the president may have more trouble winning over members of his own party.

Manuel Miranda, chairman of the judicial-issue monitoring group the Third Branch Conference, said he believes many conservatives "will rightly think that she is certainly unqualified."

Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., an anti-abortion senator who is also considered to be a 2008 presidential candidate, pointedly declined comment on Miers. And Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, one of the conservatives newly elected to the Senate in 2004, said he was reserving judgment.

And Eagle Forum President Phyllis Schlafly told CBS News that she thinks the nomination is "tragic disappointment" and a "huge mistake." Schlafly said, "Bush blew it. Miers is a female Souter, a childless appointee and a blank slate."

She says conservatives have "no assurances" about what Miers believes. "I don't think they know any more than I do," she said. She also accused the president of "just building his empire. The only way to get an appointment is to be a friend of his."

But Dan Bartlett, counselor to the president, told The Early Show's Harry Smith that while Miers' name might not be well known, she carries an "impeccable" resume and generally shares Mr. Bush's legal views.

"Someone every American can be proud of," Bartlett said. "She shares President Bush's judicial outlook — that justices shouldn't be creating laws from the bench; they should be strictly interpreting the constitution."

"My conversations with Harriet Miers indicate that she is a first-rate lawyer and a fine person," said conservative Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., a former prosecutor whose nomination to the federal court was stalled by Democrats.

Added Specter, R-Pa., an abortion-rights moderate, "Everything I know about Ms. Miers is good."

But Democrats said Miers, with no judicial record, will need to answer more questions than Roberts did during his confirmation hearing. Most of her paperwork from her White House days will not be available to the Senate because it falls under executive privilege or lawyer-client privilege.

"If there ever was a time when the hearings are going to make a huge difference, it's now," said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.

At the same time, the White House worked aggressively Monday to allay concerns over Miers among conservatives determined to turn the court to the right. The White House also played up Miers' pioneering work in Texas courts, and her trailblazing professional work as a woman.

Thalia Assuras reports that Miers was often the only woman to clear brush with the men at President Bush's Texas ranch.

Former Supreme Court justice Jack Hightower said, of Miers, "she is strong, she is knowledgeable and I'm sure she will speak for herself."

But some of the more conservative GOP senators are being reserved when it comes to Miers' nomination.

Some see Miers' nomination to the Supreme Court is the latest example of President Bush's fondness for auditioning loyal lieutenants for heavyweight jobs without telling them.

In an increasingly familiar test, Bush for months had busied Miers, his White House counsel, with the search for Supreme Court nominees. Then he nominated her to the bench.

"The president picked the picker, so to speak," said Sen. John Cornyn, a fellow Texan and former judge.

It's a familiar head-hunting technique to anyone who watched Bush's search for a running mate in 2000.

Bush asked Dick Cheney to lead the process for selecting a person for the No. 2 spot on the ticket. The move allowed Bush to watch Cheney work, put Cheney's name in the news and, in effect, took him for a test-run with public opinion. Pleased, Bush chose Cheney for the job.

At his White House press conference, Mr. Bush did not take the bait when asked about fears of some conservatives that Miers would follow the path of Justice David Souter who was nominated by his father only to be more liberal than expected. "You're going to get me in trouble with my father," Bush said with a chuckle.

"Harriet Miers will stand on her own," he said. "Harriet Miers is going to go up to the Senate and they're going to look at her and determine whether she has the temperament, the intelligence and the philosophy to be an excellent Supreme Court justice — and she will be."