White House Stands By Miers

The White House Thursday dismissed the idea that Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers might withdraw.

Press Secretary Scott McClellan told reporters, "No one that knows her would make such a suggestion."

Leading conservatives have voiced doubt that Miers — who's never been a judge and has little public record — is the best qualified for the job. And some have called on the White House counsel to bow out.

In a testy exchange with reporters, the spokesman complained that the nomination has become embroiled in "side issues like religion."

Democrats raised alarms after the administration acknowledged it's been assuring top conservatives that Miers is a "person of faith" who attends a staunchly anti-abortion church.

Bush defended his nomination Wednesday, saying Miers was highly qualified, a trailblazer in the law in Texas and someone who would strictly interpret the Constitution, something his conservative supporters desire.

He said his advisers' comments about Miers' churchgoing were meant to give people a better understanding of his little-known nominee.

"People are interested to know why I picked Harriet Miers," he said. "They want to know Harriet Miers' background. They want to know as much as they possibly can before they form opinions. Part of Harriet Miers' life is her religion."

That comment further inflamed critics of the nomination who contend Miers' religion is being used to sell the nominee to the right flank of Bush's conservative base. They argue that the president is asking them to trust him and blindly support his nomination even though Miers has no judicial record that would offer insight into how she would vote on the high court.

On a radio show broadcast Wednesday, James Dobson, founder of the conservative Focus on the Family, said that before Miers was nominated, deputy White House chief of staff Karl Rove reassured him that she was an "evangelical Christian, that she is from a very conservative church, which is almost universally pro-life."

The strategy comes just weeks after the White House said the religious views of his first nominee, John Roberts, should not be an issue, reports CBS News correspondent Peter Maer.

"The White House and the religious right leaders rallying around the beleaguered nomination of Harriet Miers continue to cite her religious beliefs and the church she attends as reasons to believe she will oppose abortion rights and to bolster support for her among activists on the far right," said Ralph Neas, director of the liberal People for the American Way. "What's wrong for John Roberts can't be right for Harriet Miers."

The Rev. Barry Lynn, director of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, said anyone who tried to bring up the topic of religion during the Roberts confirmation was labeled a bigot. "Now Bush and Rove are touting where Miers goes to church and using that as a selling point," Lynn said. "The hypocrisy is staggering."

A little over a week since Miers was nominated, complaints continued from the right. Other conservatives, however, jumped into the fray to support Miers.

Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson, who has endorsed Miers, issued a warning to conservative senators who might be thinking of voting against her. "They're going to turn against a Christian who is a conservative picked by a conservative president and they're going to vote against her for confirmation? Not on your sweet life, if they want to stay in office," he said.

Evangelical support of Miers, however, is weaker than it was for Roberts, according to AP-Ipsos polling. In the days after the nominations, twice as many evangelicals felt strongly that Roberts should be confirmed to the Supreme Court as felt that way about Miers.

Republicans overall were less enthusiastic about Miers than Roberts. Almost three-fourths wanted Roberts confirmed, compared to six in 10 for Miers.

Dobson said Rove also said she had been a member of the Texas Right to Life. Told of Dobson's comments, Elizabeth Graham, director of the 300,000-member Texas Right to Life, said, "I don't know where he would have gotten that information. I'm not able to confirm or deny" whether Miers is a member. Graham said the membership list was not public.

White House press secretary Scott McClellan said it was his understanding that Miers attended some of the group's fundraising events. Miers bought a $150 ticket to a Texas anti-abortion group's fundraising dinner in 1989, the year she won a term on the Dallas city council, said the group's president, Kyleen Wright.

Dobson said Rove also told him that some prospective court candidates bowed out because they didn't want to subject themselves or their families to a confirmation that "has become so vicious and so vitriolic and so bitter."

McClellan also acknowledged there were some prospective candidates who told the White House that they preferred not to be considered, citing the ordeal of the confirmation process.

"Washington scares people away? Is that new?" McClellan asked. "There are plenty of good people willing to be considered. The president found the best person."

McClellan later said that "it was just a couple of people" who asked that their names be withdrawn, and it happened when the field of candidates was "in the double digits." He declined to say whether "a couple" meant just two — or more.

Amid complaints that they know little about Miers' judicial philosophy, the Judiciary Committee on Wednesday sent Miers a 12-page questionnaire to be completed before the start of confirmation hearings, which are likely to begin next month. Senators, through several questions, want to probe her connections with the president and Republican interest groups. They want to know whether she has given anyone assurances about how she would vote on any Supreme Court case.

"Did you make any representations to any individuals or interest groups as to how you might rules as a justice if confirmed?" one of the questions asks.

The questionnaire asks her to explain how she would deal with any conflicts of interest she would have in hearing cases brought by the White House and the Bush administration. They also want her to explain her experience with constitutional law, given that she has never been a judge.

Several Republicans on the Judiciary Committee, including Sens. Orrin Hatch, John Cornyn, Lindsey Graham and Mike DeWine, have indicated that they may support Miers' confirmation. Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., one of the Senate's most strident anti-abortion senators, has been prominently undecided and is expected to be one of her toughest questioners at her confirmation hearings.