Nope, Never Heard Of Her Either

Bush just nominated White House Counsel Harriet Miers to fill Sandra Day O'Connor's spot on the Supreme Court. The collective punditry releases a great big "huh?"

Miers has never served as a judge. (Neither had Rehnquist, nor had Earl Warren. Chief Justice Roberts - that's gonna take some getting used to - has only two years.) She has, however, had extensive experience as a lawyer, so maybe she'll know what she's doing up there. At least as much as anyone else, anyway.

Bush has managed to do the previously unthinkable with this one, though - win the praise of Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid ("I like Harriet Miers") and the condemnation of the conservative National Review ("The Miers nomination is an unforced error"). Which probably means he made as good a pick as he can make - at a time when his approval ratings are dropping, the last thing he needs to do is initiate a bruisingly partisan confirmation battle that will push the moderates even further from his camp.

Though it is kind of funny that he's following a suggestion of massive spending on hurricane relief with a judicial nomination that drew Reid's praise. Impersonating a Moderate, on the offense, five yards, repeat third down.