Occasionally, Applying Pressure Works

If you've read ANY other blogs before coming here, you know that Harriet Miers withdrew her nomination to the Supreme Court. I'll leave the politics of it to the other bloggers. But, there is something about it that I find interesting.

Miers looked to her right, then to her left, and saw herself standing all alone. On top of that, I imagine there was a lot of pressure from both sides behind closed doors. There are two ways she could've handled this. She chose option two: bow out and try to save face.

The first option would've been to ride out the confirmation process, which was likely to turn ugly, and hope that it did not leave a permanent mark on her career. Judge Thomas seems to have managed to get beyond his nomination process, after all. Likely, she would've been confirmed, eventually. But, a lot of bridges would've been burned along the way.

Miers, obviously, is no flaming activist or she would've held the nomination regardless of the political pressure. The remaining question is: did she withdraw because she felt it was the right thing to do, or because she was coerced? Don't believe anyone who claims to know the answer to that question. This is going to be spun so hard even Miers won't know what she thinks.