Expert's list is available online at:http://www.newsdesk.umd.edu/experts/hottopic.cfm?hotlist_id=26
University of Maryland experts comment on Harriet Miers' decision to withdraw her nomination to the Supreme Court:
"Harriet Miers made a wise decision withdrawing from the confirmation process. President Bush was able to unite Democrats and Republicans who, while disagreeing on the appropriate direction of the Supreme Court, could agree that a nominee who had never argued, written, or publicly discussed constitutional issues, was not qualified for a seat on the highest constitutional court in the land.
There is a very good probably that timing of the Miers withdrawal was arranged to distract attention from the probable indictments of major Bush administration figures this week (and another poor relief effort from Hurricane Wilma). More evidence that this is an administration more concerned with managing the news than governing the country."
-Mark GraberProfessorAssociate Department ChairDepartment of Government & Politics
"Beware the angry president! And be careful what you wish for.
Historically, presidents who've been forced to withdraw Supreme Court nominees resent this political development and often select successor nominees who are more extreme in their views of the Constitution than the original nominee.
Richard Nixon, mad that the Senate rejected his nomination of Clement Haynsworth, submitted the supremely unqualified, racist G. Harrold Carswell. Ronald Reagan, in a pique because the Senate said no to Robert Bork, submitted the name of Douglas Ginsburg, a nominee considerably more severe in his constitutional views than even Bork.
The interesting question here is who is President Bush most angry with over the Miers nomination. His staff? The conservative base of his party? The Senate? Republican senators? Unusually, Bush should probably be most angry with his conservative allies, but the statement from the White House suggests he's also upset with the Senate. All of this will figure in to who the president now nominates.
Also figuring in to this equation is how the president's weakened political position figures into the rather speedy withdrawal of the Miers nomination and who the president will now turn to to replace Justice O'Connor."
-Trevor Parry-GilesProfessorDepartment of Communication
"It is a defeat for President Bush personally and certainly a win for the conservative wing of his party. It may be at best a pyrrhic victory for the Democrats. Like Republicans, many Democrats were concerned about both her judicial philosophy and her competence.
The Democrats should be careful what they wish for. And maybe the Republicans too. This was personal with President Bush, and it remains to be seen whether he wants to accede to their wishes and pick a known strict constructionist conservative. And if he does that, the Democrats will come out with guns blazing."
-Diana HuffmanProfessorPhilip Merrill College of Journalism
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