Within minutes of John Roberts' nomination to the Supreme Court, liberal talking-heads were on TV denouncing him, even though they had only preliminary reports on his record. The three groups that make up the Coalition for a Fair and Independent Judiciary-the Alliance for Justice, Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and People For the American Way-signaled their disapproval in strong prose.
There's been no repeat with Harriet Miers. The same three liberal groups have withheld attacks, publicly acknowledging their delight over conservatives' unhappiness with the President's pick to replace Sandra Day O'Connor. The groups, that had a report on Roberts within 24 hours, took four days to release anything on Miers. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D.-N.Y.), who rarely shies away from criticizing the President or his judicial nominees, told the Washington Times that just because he's holding his fire on Miers doesn't mean it won't be coming. "But for the moment, you know, people like [Senators] Sam Brownback and Trent Lott are doing that job for us," Schumer said.
