Conservatives Divided On Miers

Not all conservatives are lining up behind President Bush's pick to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. With the process moving forward on Capitol Hill, the president is trying to reassure his political base that Harriet Miers is the right woman for the job.

"I picked the best person I could find," Mr. Bush told a Rose Garden news conference Tuesday.

But CBS News correspondent Susan Roberts reports the right wing of the president's own party is questioning why he chose a lawyer from his inner circle instead of a more proven conservative judge.

"I'm getting reports on both sides," said Paul Weyrich, a conservative leader from the Free Congress Foundation. "Some people are quite enthused about her and other people are very upset. The grass-roots are not happy, I can tell you that."

Miers, meanwhile, is trying to build up support by visiting senators at the Capitol on Wednesday, scheduling stops with GOP Sen. John Cornyn and top Judiciary Committee Democrat Patrick Leahy.

Mr. Bush defended the 60-year-old nominee at his news conference, repeatedly implying that conservatives should trust his judgment.

While insisting that he doesn't recall ever talking to Miers about abortion, he pointedly said, "I know her heart."

Mr. Bush, who emphasized that he's a proud conservative, said he hoped his supporters were listening. "I'm interested in someone who shares my philosophy and will share it 20 years from now," he said.

After a strong push from the president and his White House staff, some conservative groups are coming out in favor of Miers, the White House counsel and longtime Bush friend. "I trust that she will be an excellent addition to the high court and all Americans will be proud of her," said Roberta Combs, president of the Christian Coalition.

And one of the Senate's senior conservatives, Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, was one of the first senators to announce his support for Miers.

"A lot of my fellow conservatives are concerned, but they don't know her as I do," said Hatch, a former chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. "She's going to basically do what the president thinks she should, and that is be a strict constructionist" when it comes to deciding constitutional issues.

But many Senate conservatives are withholding judgment, and House Republican leaders have said little to nothing about Miers. Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback, a Judiciary Committee Republican and a possible GOP 2008 candidate, even invoked a favorite target of conservatives when talking about Miers.

"There's precious little to go on and a deep concern that this would be a Souter-type candidate," Brownback said, referring to Supreme Court Justice David Souter, a little-known judge nominated for the court by the first President Bush who later turned out to be liberal on the bench.

"The circumstances seem to be very similar," said Brownback, who will meet with Miers on Thursday. "Not much track record, people vouching for her, yet indications of a different thought pattern earlier in life."

Some conservative activists were vehement in their opposition to Miers.

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

Anti-abortion group Operation: Rescue on Tuesday promised an active campaign to get Mr. Bush to withdraw Miers' nomination.

"The president seems to do what is politically expedient, versus what is morally correct," said Troy Newman, leader of Operation: Rescue. "Therefore, if we make it politically expedient for him to do the moral thing, that's what he'll do. The confirmation hearings haven't been scheduled yet, and until they have been and she's been confirmed, I'm very hopeful something will happen that will remove her name from consideration."

Newman acknowledged the consensus among grassroots conservatives was "to wait and see, to trust the administration, trust the president, almost to hold your breath and cross your fingers."

"My position to these leaders is that we cannot afford — the babies cannot afford — to wait and see," he said. "We did it with Souter, we did it with O'Connor and we did it with countless others. Now's the time to be vocal."

CBS News correspondent Gloria Borger reports that conservatives are upset because they wanted an ideological battle.

"They wanted a symbol. They wanted someone who openly supported their views of the Supreme Court," Borger said. "But they know nothing about her judicial philosophy."

Senate Democrats, meanwhile, are mostly holding their fire.

"With so much at stake, we shouldn't rush to judgment about this or any other nominee, but even at this early stage of the confirmation process, I will say that I am impressed by what I know about Harriet Miers," said Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid, who has not indicated how he will vote on Miers.