Thanks, Mrs. Unelected First Lady

LA Times: First Lady's Influence Helped Miers---

WASHINGTON -- When Harriet E. Miers sat down Sunday for supper with President Bush in the upstairs residence of the White House, she had an influential ally at the table: the first lady, Laura Bush.

Twice this summer, Mrs. Bush publicly had expressed the hope that her husband would name a female to replace Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court.

Before the dinner of fried shrimp, polenta and chocolate mousse was over, Mrs. Bush's wish came true, bringing to a surprising end a professional courtship between the president and his White House counsel that he launched discreetly less than two weeks earlier.

"I don't think this was something that she expected," said White House press secretary Scott McClellan. "She was not seeking this out."

Indeed, Miers was among the top White House aides who were vetting potential candidates for the court, and her name was put forward by an unusual source -- the leader of the Senate Democrats, Harry Reid of Nevada.

On Sept. 21, during a breakfast meeting with Bush and other senators, Reid suggested that she would make a good nominee, citing his favorable impression of her during the confirmation process for the new chief justice, John G. Roberts Jr.

In addition, senators of both parties were urging Bush to consider a nominee who has not served as a judge. Such a candidate, they said, would bring different experiences and perspectives to a court whose members had had risen through the ranks of the judiciary.

The same day that Reid offered her name as a potential justice, Bush broached the topic with Miers. She was, said McClellan, one of as many as 15 candidates the president considered -- "a diverse" group from "all walks of life," including at least half a dozen women.

I prefer Laura Bush when she sticks to picking a theme for the White House during the Christmas season.

I wasn't aware we elected her to give advice on judicial nominees.

(Curtsy to Drudge)