Might the president recover with his next Supreme Court appointment?
He certainly might recover some support from conservatives who were alienated and angered by the Miers nomination. Some of them will never regain their confidence in the Bush administration. But others will come back to the fold if the next nominee is to their liking. Has this nomination changed anything in the relationship Mr. Bush has with conservatives? Yes. For many conservatives the Miers nomination was the final straw. They had held their tongues on many policies that they disagreed with — large budget deficits, an education bill that gave more control to the federal government, his signing of the campaign finance law, his response to Hurricane Katrina, his immigration policies. And that’s because they were united in anticipation of their greatest priority, which is moving the Supreme Court to the right. The Miers nomination unleashed a torrent of criticism from this otherwise loyal constituency of President Bush’s. For some conservatives, the breach will be beyond repair, no mat
