Count Me As One of the Frustrated Conservatives

HARRIET MIERS
She knows how to keep a secret
But nominee's closely guarded style frustrates those who wonder about her beliefs
By KIM COBB
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

DALLAS - When Harriet Miers was cutting her law teeth here in the 1970s, the only available role models nearby were tight-lipped male attorneys from dark-suited firms who preached the importance of discretion.

She endured the "hello, little lady" treatment from Dallas' more hidebound attorneys and judges, confidently staking her claim to power in a world where women were still a novelty.

And she kept her mouth firmly shut.

"That's one of the reasons clients like her, particularly a client like George Bush," said Houston attorney and longtime Miers friend Chip Babcock. "When he tells Harriet Miers something, he knows they can pull all her teeth out and she's not going to reveal a secret."

But the trait also is why Bush's nomination of Miers to the U.S. Supreme Court is driving people crazy at both ends of the political spectrum. Her career has been a series of public successes, but her private life, which encircles many of her opinions, has been her most protected client.

Her evangelical Christianity is frightening to some who fear that it would imbue a conservative approach to hot-button issues such as abortion and gay rights.

She is not committed or conservative enough for others. Power players on the right, having expected Bush to nominate someone with bonafide conservative credentials, feel betrayed. They say that Miers is a cipher, and they resent Bush's admonition to trust his choice because "I know her heart."

This is, after all, a woman who donated $1,000 to Democrat Al Gore's presidential campaign in 1988.

The next year, she was elected to the Dallas City Council for a two-year term. And she met George W. Bush.

Miers barely left a ripple in the local political landscape during her single council term.

Her ascent in legal circles, however, was swift and smooth — the first woman hired at the firm now known as Locke Liddell & Sapp became its first female president in 1996, already having served as president of the Dallas Bar Association and State Bar of Texas.

Then-Gov. Bush appointed Miers as chairwoman of the Texas Lottery Commission in 1995. And she followed Bush to Washington in 2001 as assistant to the president and staff secretary and has served as his government lawyer since February.

She is unquestionably dedicated to Bush. But her heart remains in Dallas with her fragile mother, Sally, ultra-loyal friends and the evangelical church life that centers her.

This is an unnecessary mess. It should never have come to this point. President Bush has been ill-served by Harriet Miers simply by her not having said, "No Thanks, Mr. President." She obviously allowed her ego to overcome her good sense. I think that it's likely she will be confirmed in the end. Bush will get his choice, short of some revelation, but the American people will be short-changed in the process. Nominees should have an established record for all to see, and then the Nation along with the Senate can debate and decide if the candidate is acceptable and therefore, in which direction the country is going to go.

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