You're cool, court nominee told Bush in private letter

OCTOBER 12--Sure, nobody seems to know anything about Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers's judicial philosophy, abortion position, or conservative bona fides. But here's something not open for debate: the old gal loves exclamation points and seemed to enjoy writing gushy notes to then-Governor George W. Bush. Below you'll find copies of personal correspondence exchanged between Bush and Miers from 1995-2000 (before migrating to Washington, Miers headed the Texas State Lottery Commission, a post to which Bush appointed her). The Bush-Miers letters were among more than 2000 pages of documents released this week by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. In a 1997 Hallmark greeting card (adorned with a photo of a dog), Miers sent along belated birthday wishes and noted that "You are the best governor ever--deserving of great respect!" In another note (penned on an American Greetings card), Miers wrote that she hoped Bush's daughters realized that their parents were "cool." A 1995 Miers note thanked Bush for a visit, adding that an airplane ride with the governor was "Cool!" Sadly, the document dump did not include Miers's e-mail or IM messages, which are surely filled with loads of sappy emoticons. (18 pages with photos of letters)
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/1012055miers1.html

Gushing herograms that returned to haunt Bush
From David Charter in Washington
IN ANY other circumstances, President Bush would surely welcome the release of correspondence from the Texas state archive praising him as “cool” and “the greatest!”.

The gushing letters — proclaiming that “Texas is blessed” and “All I hear is how great you and Laura are doing” — serve as a reminder of happier times before the Bush presidency hit its present rocky patch.

But the bundles of yellowing documents have only added to the President’s woes. They were written by Harriet Miers, Mr Bush’s former personal lawyer and his controversial nomination for a rare vacant seat on the Supreme Court.

With Mr Bush battling charges of cronyism for naming a non-judge as “the best candidate”, he could have done without a reminder of how fawning his close confidante had been over the years.

In one sugary letter to the then governor released under open government laws, Ms Miers declared: “Keep up all the great work. The state is in great hands. Thanks also for yours and your family’s personal sacrifice.”

Again, after seeing Mr Bush sign an autograph for a little girl, Ms Miers was moved to write: “I was struck by the tremendous impact you have on the children whose lives you touch.”

Mr Bush is facing a firestorm from his traditional conservative base for nominating the 60-year-old fellow Texan, who made her name back in the Lone Star State, but has done little to impress the legal establishment and still less to appeal to the Republican right. They want someone with a clear anti-abortion record in the hope that the Supreme Court will move to the right and eventually overturn the 1973 Roe v Wade case setting out the legal right for abortion.

Instead they have been left with ambiguous signals. Ms Miers bought a $150 ticket to a Texas anti-abortion group’s fundraising dinner in 1989, but also donated $1,000 to Al Gore’s unsuccessful 1988 Democratic presidential campaign.

It means that Mr Bush’s nominee faces a torrid public grilling on her views at confirmation hearings and a potential rejection by the Republicancontrolled Senate.

The fact that the Texas papers were cleared for release by Mr Bush’s Republican successor as governor indicates just how deep conservative opposition runs to Ms Miers, who made her name in the state by becoming the first female head of the bar association.

Right-wing hostility only deepened yesterday after an attempt by Laura Bush to silence the critics backfired. Mrs Bush has acknowledged pushing for Ms Miers behind the scenes and allied herself with a host of women’s groups when she accused critics of the nomination of sexism.

William Kristol, godfather of the Washington neocons, accused the White House of resorting to a desperate strategy with claims that were “obviously ridiculous”.

Jonah Goldberg, who runs the prominent conservative National Review blog, added: “It is horribly disappointing and the sort of thing I normally expect from left-wingers.”

Most senior Democrats have remained agnostic or even supportive of Ms Miers, another troubling sign for Republicans and suggesting that they will pass up the chance to give Mr Bush a bloody nose if her candidacy makes it as far as a Senate vote next month.

If ratified, Ms Miers would replace the retiring Sandra Day O’Connor, a swing voter on the nine-strong court, which often divides five-four on some of the most contentious social issues facing the US.

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http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,11069-1823385,00.html