Meirs Quits

I was giving it 50/50 odds that Bush would force her to go down in flames in the Senate, although this is clearly the smarter political move.

It'll be very interesting to see who comes next.

Nominating a Justice without judicial experience has plenty of precedent (like Justices Powell and Rehnquist), but has fallen into disfavor recently.  The larger question with Miers were her overall professional qualifications.  She has certainly had an impressive legal career, but so have many others.  For a Supreme Court Justice we hope for more than merely impressive.

Dunno on the abortion issue.

As to first female President - currently, the logical frontrunners (TMK) would be Hillary and Condy.  As between those two I think Hillary has a better chance.  I don't know of any other women considered serious contenders at this time.

In a more hypothetical context, my thought would be that the Democrats are much more likely to nominate a woman, which would make it more likely that the first female Prez would be Democrat.  On the other hand, I'm guessing that a Republican female nominee would have a better chance of getting elected.  This because women mostly vote Democrat, and if a significant number of female voters would cross party lines for gender loyalty, then the Republican female would stand to gain more than a Democrat.

Sorry for double post, but came across this fine quote.  Pretty cold-hearted.

"Let's move on," said Republican Sen. Trent Lott (news, bio, voting record) of Mississippi. "In a month, who will remember the name Harriet Miers?"