MIER'S WITHDRAWS!!

Agree with Krauthammer or not, he had this pegged perfectly. The release of WH docs was the out they used to have her withdraw and save face. Good form Charles!

From AP:Harriet Miers withdrew her nomination to be a Supreme Court justice Thursday in the face of stiff opposition and mounting criticism about her qualifications.

President Bush said he reluctantly accepted her decision to withdraw, after weeks of insisting that he did not want her to step down. He blamed her withdrawal on calls in the Senate for the release of internal White House documents that the administration has insisted were protected by executive privilege.

"It is clear that senators would not be satisfied until they gained access to internal documents concerning advice provided during her tenure at the White House — disclosures that would undermine a president's ability to receive candid counsel," Bush said. "Harriet Miers' decision demonstrates her deep respect for this essential aspect of the constitutional separation of powers — and confirms my deep respect and admiration for her."

Now it's time for a Luttig, Jones, Brown or McConnell.

Mier's letter here

Update: Beware, the bed wetting right of the blogospere are chirping already. Just a few to give you all a flavor.

Lashawn Barber has this to say: Miers is gone, but I predict George Bush will nominate another unqualified person. Perhaps his tailor. Or his dentist. Or his dog walker.

What did Bush learn? Maybe he learned that the people who put him in office actually expect him to be a conservative with common sense and choose someone qualified to sit on the highest court in the land, and not an unknown quantity crony. We’ll see.

or this from Conservative Princess: I can't share in the glee this morning over the Miers pullout. Certainly she was a second-class nominee, and certainly she probably was either underqualified, or strangely qualified for the position, but whenever a nominee pulls out of the process, the follow up cannot be a positive one.

Cmon people, let's try and keep our perspective here. This will have a bit of short term damage but minimal and long term it's a net positive. If Bush comes back with a strong, well qualified judicial conservative it will have a tremendous rallying effect. Nothing motivates your base like a good fight and this positive mojo would carry all the way into the 06 midterms. The little lambs who have strayed from the pasture will come back en-masse and plenty fired up behind him and his choice. The majority of Americans are for a conservative restrained SCOTUS and in the imminent battle with the left, Bush will occupy the high ground. One need only have a bit of faith that our Pres will indeed nominate such an individual. Considering his past judicial nominations save one, I believe that faith is well founded.