Conservative Right Spoiling for a Fight?

Was the Conservative right spoiling for a fight over Harriet Miers’ nomination to fill the vacancy left by Justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s retirement? Read the article below to get Robert Freer’s take on it.

Robert E. Freer, Jr., President of The Free Enterprise Foundation

It might have been expected that with the nomination of Harriet Miers to replace the retiring Sandra Day O’Connor, President Bush would ignite a din of criticism. What has confused the public is that the often bitter invective has come from his own party. While no nominee selected by this president would meet with approval by Democrats, the left has been gleefully restrained. In the face of the strident criticism from his staunchest supporters, the President has remained Ms. Miers’ primary cheerleader and assures his base that they will like what she does on the Court. The Left would like to know more about her position on abortion, but has been largely silent, and there appears sufficient support gathering for her among Democrats on the Hill that she would receive at least the 22 Democratic votes given to Justice Roberts and perhaps a few more. What we know about the Nominee is that she is a native Texan whose career and life have been circumscribed by her state’s borders. In Texas, she has blazed the trail for women wanting to succeed in what used to be a man’s profession. She was the first women to make both partner and then managing partner for her Dallas firm. She has served as chair of the Texas Lottery Commission, been president of both the Dallas County and State Bar Associations and served as a member of the Dallas City Council. She has also served as the President’s personal attorney, and in government she has been his staunch loyalist. Of perhaps key importance, unless there is something catastrophic in her background, it is strongly likely that she will be Madame Justice Miers before Christmas. Beset by problems domestic and foreign, the President needs all the support he can muster on Capitol Hill and cannot afford a bruising battle over this nominee. If you take the President at his word that he “knows her heart” and that she is a committed Christian and conservative who will not legislate from the bench, what is the “Right” really upset about? The President and the right to life portion of his coalition are facing different realities. The President has to manage a broad array of issues while keeping together a ruling coalition. For him to win in today’s “contact sport” approach to policy implementation requires finesse in an independent minded Senate. He knows that today’s opponent is likely to be tomorrow’s ally. For the “Far Right” the President’s reality is their disappointment. They are focused on actually having the battle. They have supported Republican presidential contenders since Ronald Reagan totally focused on turning the clock back to a simpler age where the social fabric coalesced around traditional Judeo-Christian values. They cannot imagine how that was allowed to change. They are spoiling for the fight before another election puts the Republican majority at risk. For them it has become an end in itself. Ms. Miers, conservative or not, just doesn’t do it for them. For them they want to collide in the U.S. Senate with Ted Kennedy’s legions over a candidate that is a proven conservative symbol. Re-nominate Bork! Nominate Estrada, Pryor, Owens or any number of candidates highly identified with an activist agenda. For them Miers’ stealth candidacy takes away the fulfillment of the years of toil to meet the Left head-on and roll over them. I hope this won’t get me run out of the “club”, but I am with the President on this one even though I suspect Ms. Miers will be an “O’Connor” not a “Scalia”. To continue to be a ruling majority Republicans must take their victories with as little blood on the floor as possible. Conservatives must also recognize that dynamic conservatism is tasked with ruling in the first decade of the 21st century not 1980. It is essentially a weak position for the Far Right to presuppose the battle must be fought with blood on the floor before next year’s congressional races. It does not bespeak confidence as to the political future for the coalition. While the coalition does not yet have a candidate for 2008 when Hillary Clinton is the likely opponent, dynamic conservatism’s timeless values of fiscal conservatism, individual responsibility, a strong defense but smaller central government, federalism and reliance on free enterprise to point the way continue to represent the view of the conservative majority. I am more concerned as the ruling party that we are losing our way in applying these principles than flexing our muscles over Ms. Miers.

Copyright © 2007 by Robert E. Freer, Jr. All rights reserved

About the author: Robert E. Freer, Jr. is President of the The Free Enterprise Foundation. He is a Visiting Professor, at The Citadel and elected in 2005 to be their first John S. Grinalds Leader in Residence. A regular contributor to the Mercury, He can be reached by E-mail at The Citadel . Copies of his earlier columns can be found The Free Enterprise Foundation.

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