The Note: Am I a What?

— -- WASHINGTON, Oct. 5

NEWS SUMMARY
Second things first: the battle for elite hearts and minds on the right over Harriet Miers is more intense as Day 3 begins than it was as Day 2 began.

First things second: we still cannot see a scenario in which she doesn't get 51+ votes on the Senate floor.

(But/and are Brownback and Coburn "no" votes in Judiciary really out of the question?)

(And/but the White House clearly has more work to do on the nomination than they had originally thought they would.)

Third things third: you must stop what you are doing and read every word of George F. Will's column saying the Senate should (really: "must") reject her nomination unless she performs some sort of miracle during her confirmation hearings. LINK

Of particular Note: Will's repudiation of President Bush's qualifications to pick Supreme Court nominees and his stark "10,000" casting.

Some elements of the conservative elite (editorial boards, columnists, some groups, etc...) are still very actively questioning the President's pick specifically and judgment generally -- and that's not a great sign.

The Left (seemingly not the least bit embarrassed that they seem to be just now starting their research into Miers. . . ) is still re-evaluating what cards it holds in its hands and in what order to play them. Representative of this methodical craftiness: Senator Reid's carefully-thought-through master plan, which continues to be unfurled on schedule day by day.

If the Democrats really want to torpedo the nomination, they ought to have the Human Rights Campaign go out and call Miers a lonely champion for gay rights.

More seriously (but only slightly so), Democrats probably can't do anything to stop this confirmation (and it isn't clear to us, on the merits of their own terms, that they should want to, given the kind of nominee they would get if Miers were defeated).

But there would be a political advantage for the Democrats if the President were to lose this fight. It would lead to more and more stories about GOP infighting and a "the Republicans can't govern" story line, as well as a stoking of the favorite press themes of "second-term curse," "Bush bedeviled by cronyism," and "ironically, Bush got -- and lost -- a big fight after making a pick seemingly designed to avoid one." All of that would be beneficial for the Democrats going into the '06 midterm elections.

While we wait for the next round of polling data to see if America HEARTS Harriet Miers, by a vote of 498 to 2, the Gang of 500 decided last night at Lauriol Plaza over steaming plates of fajitas that the Rose Garden do-over did nothing to change the overall dynamic.

(And, unsurprisingly, the Gang is not swayed by Senator Cornyn's Wall Street Journal op-ed view that all y'all should be for Miers because she didn't go to an Ivy League school.)

Miers met with Cornyn at 9:15 am and is scheduled to meet with Sen. Leahy at 10:30 AM. More meetings are anticipated. Sen. Brownback is scheduled to meet with the nominee tomorrow.

President Bush is scheduled to participate in a meeting with the Secretary of Defense and former Commander of Multi-National Security and Transition Command in Iraq in the Oval Office at 9:40 am ET. Pool coverage is slated for the bottom of the meeting. Please Note especially the front-page Wall Street Journal story suggesting that a "growing number" of military commanders and civilian policy makers "fear" that "the large US troop presence is actually helping feed the insurgency and stunting Iraq's political growth."

The Senate reconvenes at 10:00 am ET with no roll call votes expected until 7:30 pm ET. There will be stakeouts of the policy luncheons at the Ohio Clock. Sen. Hutchison (R-TX) is expected at 12:15 pm ET. Sens. Reid, Levin, Biden, and Reed will appear at 2:15 pm ET.

The Supreme Court meets at 10:00 am for oral arguments in the "right to die" case Gonzales v. Oregon.

Vice President Cheney will deliver remarks on the war on terror when he addresses the Association of the US Army Annual Meeting and Exposition in Washington, DC at 12:25 pm ET.

DNC Chairman Howard Dean will play "Hardball with Chris Matthews" this evening on MSNBC.

President Clinton continues his Gulf Coast tour today with stops in Metarie, LA, Gulfport, MS, and Bayou La Batre, AL.

Don Evans of the Financial Service Forum speaks at the National Press Club at 1:00 pm today.

Miers: political analysis:
The Los Angeles Times' Ron Brownstein writes that many conservative activists think President Bush has sent a clear message with his two Supreme Court appointments: "Bold conservative thinkers with clear public records need not apply." LINK

Judge Bork agrees!!!

The Washington Post duo of Fletcher and Edsall report that Bush's selection of Miers has "splintered conservatives and left liberals largely mute because there are few clear clues about where Miers stands on many divisive issues." LINK

Miers: nut graphs suggesting confirmation prospects:
The Los Angeles Times details the President's Miers-focused press conference. Despite some hackles from the right, "with most Republican senators expressing confidence in the President's pick -- and Democrats expressing relief that Bush did not choose someone more flamboyantly conservative -- her confirmation appears on track, barring unforeseen developments." LINK

Miers: key players react:
On "Good Morning America," Republican Sen. Sam Brownback told ABC's Diane Sawyer there's a "good chance" he would vote against Harriet Miers if she views Roe v. Wade as settled law.

The pro-life Senate Judiciary Committee member said he and millions of Americans would not agree that it is settled law because of the effects it has had throughout society and on the unborn.

Brownback said he was able to support John G. Roberts for Chief Justice because although Roberts "came out in favor" of Griswold v. Connecticut he stopped short of directly addressing Roe v. Wade.

"By not addressing it," Brownback said of Roberts, "he leaves it open."

Brownback doesn't expect Miers to say -- one way or the other -- whether she would overturn Roe v. Wade because that would amount to prejudging a case.

But Brownback did say that he will try to learn from Miers how she looks at the Constitution: whether she looks at it as a "living document" or as "something that is more strictly construed."

Brownback said there is "some comfort" in hearing the President personally vouch for Miers' heart but he added that "without the written record and background you are trying to guess in the future how she will look" at these types of issues.

"It's a CSI kind of case," Brownback said.

In a separate interview this morning, Sen. Brownback said he is not convinced that Miers is the best person for the job and that will have to be determined in her hearings. When asked if he was disappointed in the President's choice, he said "yes, I am disappointed."

Brownback to the New York Times: "There is a lot of skepticism around about her. . . If it really appears as if and operates as if she is a Souter type of nominee, I can see a scenario that I would vote against her on the committee." LINK

Close listeners detect that Sen. Brownback has shifted to a more anti-Miers position in the last 24 hours.

The Wall Street Journal's Jeanne Cummings reports that the Human Rights Campaign sent a "jolt" through the system by "hinting" that it may support Miers.

"I met her once at some length. I was very impressed with her," Sen. John McCain told Don Imus this morning.

McCain went on to say, "I don't think the Senate should be a rubber stamp, but I also believe the President should be given the benefit of the doubt."

Senators are "puzzling over how to evaluate a nominee whose most significant writings they probably won't be allowed to read," writes USA Today. While the Senate's overall reaction to Miers was underwhelming, the paper Notes that Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) have already committed to voting for her, and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) says he's "predisposed to support her." LINK

The Hill write-up compares Miers reaction from the Senate's pool of possible GOP presidential candidates and other key Senators, ranking Brownback's as the most tepid, McCain's the most enthusiastic, and Allen's, Coburn's, and Dole's somewhere in between. But one Miers supporter expects Republicans to eventually welcome her: "It's a little overblown, in that the conservatives were not exactly pleased with Roberts either. But in the end he was the Second Coming." LINK

Miers: editorials and op-eds:
The Manchester Union Leader's editorial board -- crying that only cronyism seems to qualify her -- practically retches at the prospect of Harriet Miers on the Supreme Court. LINK

Miers: bio:
The New York Times offers a front page look at Harriet Miers' journey from Roman Catholic to evangelical Protestant. (Note the Merrie Spaeth cameo.) LINK

The Washington Times also takes a look at the role of prayer in Miers' life. LINK

Nathan Hecht, the "on-again, off-again" boyfriend of Miers, tells the Washington Post's Grunwald, Becker, and Pomfret that the President's Supreme Court pick told him on one evening in the 1980s that "I'm convinced that life begins at conception." LINK

The Los Angeles Times uses Miers' non-traditional path to success to examine the struggle of many women balancing work with family. Chock full of quotes from Juleanna Glover Weiss, Vice President Cheney's former press secretary, on the pressures and constraints of being a working mother in the White House.LINK

Miers: abortion:
The Los Angeles Times tries to discern Miers' abortion views, with longtime companion and the omnipresent Nathan Hecht saying that while Miers personally opposes abortion, whether she would vote to overturn Roe vs. Wade is not certain.LINK

Per the New York Times: "In a discussion with her campaign manager in 1989, Ms. Miers said she had been in favor in her younger years of a woman's right to have an abortion, but her views evolved against abortion, influenced largely by her born-again religious beliefs, said Lorlee Bartos, a Democratic campaign consultant in Dallas who managed Ms. Miers's City Council campaign." LINK

"'She was someone whose view had shifted, and she explained that to me,' Ms. Bartos said."

Miers: legal analysis:
Charlie Savage of the Boston Globe reports that many fear that Miers is too close to the executive branch and may not play to an equal balance of branch powers. "'. . . the president is now seeding the Supreme Court with people who have been handmaidens in his efforts to increase the power of the executive. . .'" said Bill Goodman, legal director of the Center for Constitutional Rights. LINK

Miers: investigative:
The Boston Globe probes into Miers' background and says that although she has not supported gay rights in the past, she has actively supported AIDS research. Dallas Bar Association president Tim Mountz found her to be "very public service-oriented and community service-oriented." LINK

POTUS speaks:
The Washington Post's Baker and Murray Rose Garden coverage ledes with the President seeking to "quell a revolt within his own party."LINK

The President strongly hinted that Miers documents from her work in the White House will not likely be forthcoming, the New York Times and others report. LINK

USA Today has the President "defending" his Supreme Court pick to conservatives and "backpedaling" on Social Security reform. The write-up of yesterday's presser also cites a USA Today/CNN/Gallup poll showing that Americans are less impressed by Harriet Miers than they were by John Roberts. LINK

The New York Times' Stevenson takes a look at the non-Miers related items in yesterday's Rose Garden press conference with an eye toward how the President intends to spend the "plenty" of political capital he believes he has in reserve. LINK

The Wall Street Journal's Christopher Cooper highlights President Bush's call for "substantial" cuts in popular entitlement programs to pay for Katrina.

The Wall Street Journal ed board took President Bush's press conference as a sign that "maybe, slowly, possibly, Republicans are getting the message that runaway spending is lousy politics."

The Los Angeles Times Notes the President's acknowledgement of a "diminished appetite" for dealing with Social Security reform, while fact-checking his comments on government spending. LINK

The Washington Bureau Chief of the San Francisco Chronicle Notes, "It is a measure of how far off course his presidency has strayed that President Bush spent nearly an hour discussing his priorities with reporters Tuesday and hardly brought up Iraq, Social Security or taxes." LINK

DeLay:
Carl Hulse of the New York Times reports timing could be everything in Tom DeLay's efforts to return to his leadership post. LINK

Hulse Notes the defection of Rep. Hulshof (R-MO) irrespective of the legal outcome as well as DeLay's comments to Rush Limbaugh that he believes these charges emanate from one misstatement he made to Ronnie Earle during his voluntary interview this summer.

DeLay told a Houston radio station yesterday: "The longer this goes, the tougher it is for me to step back in as Majority Leader," Bloomberg News reports. LINK

The Washington Post's R. Jeffrey Smith has Ronnie Earle firing back at criticism by DeLay's lawyers that he brought a new indictment against DeLay to fix a legal flaw in the first indictment. Earle said in a written statement that the new indictment stems from "new information that 'came to the attention of the District Attorney's Office last weekend.'" LINK

The Houston Chronicle looked into DeLay's grand juror list and found that seven of the twelve jurors have voted in Democratic primaries and one in a Republican party, while four others could not be traced. LINK

In the chess match over whom, if anyone, will permanently replace DeLay as Majority Leader, The Hill looks at Boehner v. Blunt. LINK

Fiscally conservative Republicans may call for a leadership election next year if House GOP leaders don't endorse spending cuts to pay for hurricane relief. The Hill in a separate story writes that the move is being led by frustrated members of the Republican Study Committee and the class of 1994. Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC) sounds an ominous warning: "If there are no offsets, it's going to create a lot of problems for those in leadership." LINK

The politics of Katrina:
FEMA will meet the October 15 deadline set by President Bush to move evacuees out of shelters and into more permanent housing, acting chief David Paulison tells USA Today. Paulison, in his first interview since he took control of the agency, says the 68,000 people still in Red Cross shelters will be moved, "whether it's (to) an apartment or hotel room or staying with Uncle Bob." LINK

The Gulf Coast congressional delegation's newfound stardom gets the attention of the New York Times' Ray Hernandez. LINK

In a letter to the editor of the Washington Post, Hoosier Congressman Mike Pence (R) calls a recent Dana Milbank column suggesting fiscal hawks were caving "inaccurate." LINK

The economy:
Edmund Andrews of the New York Times writes of the ongoing search for Alan Greenspan's replacement as Federal Reserve Chairman and Notes in what regard "Rubinomics" is held within the White House. LINK

The Wall Street Journal story on the same topic floats some new(ish) names -- including Rubin's!!

Here is a New York Times lede graph that writes its own Democratic press release: "After falling for two years, the share of income going to the richest slice of Americans - the top tenth of 1 percent - grew significantly in 2003 while the share going to 99 percent of Americans fell, tax data released yesterday showed." LINK

The politics of national security:
The AP's Sidoti reports Chairman Warner wants his annual defense bill debated on the floor and put to a vote despite the Majority Leader's maneuverings to protect the interests of the White House. LINK

Sen. McCain has received more evidence of American soldiers abusing Iraqi detainees, reports the New York Times. LINK

The politics of bird flu:
The New York Times' Harris explains why Washington is all atwitter about the avian flu. LINK

The Clintons of Chappaqua:
The New York Times' Stephanie Strom fawns over former President Clinton as he toured some of the Katrina affected regions of Louisiana. Strom includes the FPOTUS' two-hour tardiness and need to be with his wife next week to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary in her story that has the words "felt their pain" in the first paragraph. LINK

2008: Democrats:
John Kerry will make three Hawkeye State stops on Sunday in his first 2005 visit to Iowa, reports the Des Moines Register. LINK

"A blinding universe of glitterati have cracked their checkbooks" for Clinton's re-election campaign, according to a look at federal elections records by the New York Daily News. LINK

The Sioux City Journal reports that the Iowa governor is dropping his current SUV -- a 2005 GMC Yukon -- for an 85% ethanol-fueled model. A smattering of other politicians are switching gears as well, including Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson. LINK

New Hampshire:
The New Hampshire Union Leader reports that the New Hampshire Speaker of the House Douglas Scamman added his name to a U.S. Supreme Court brief refuting the constitutionality of the state's parental notification law. LINK

2006:
A new Quinnipiac poll shows four in five voters don't think the troubles of the husbands of Sen. Hillary Clinton and her challenger Jeanine Pirro will influence their vote.LINK

Former President Jimmy Carter's son, Jack Carter, is "very seriously exploring" a challenge to Sen. Ensign next year. LINK

We look forward to Sen. Reid's first on camera reaction to this development from home.

2005:
The New York Times' Pat Healy takes a look at Michael Bloomberg's donations to the Republican Party and Republican office holders despite his non-partisan packaging. Tom DeLay's name gets some pretty prominent play here too. LINK

Al Gore gets involved in the Ferrer campaign's pressure on Bloomberg for avoiding the mayoral debate tomorrow night in Harlem and Bloomberg supporter Rev. Floyd Flake tells NY1's Dominic Carter that he's not sure the mayor's decision is final just yet. Here's the New York Times' Healy and Cardwell with more. LINK

New York City's dropping crime rate as a potent Bloomberg campaign tool gets front-page treatment from the New York Times in its New York editions. LINK

Democratic mayoral challenger Fernando Ferrer tries to take some credit for pushing Mayor Bloomberg into a new contract with city teachers, reports the New York Daily News. LINK

The Schwarzenegger Era:
The Wall Street Journal's ed board comes out behind California's paycheck protection initiative, calling it more important than Schwarzenegger's own re-election for the future of the state.