Miers Gets Raincheck From Brownback

Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS), one of the most ardent opponents of abortion, stated yesterday that he was "not fully convinced" that Harriet Miers had earned his support, as her stances on abortion and, with all probability, other social issues such as gay rights and affirmative action, are dubious.

So who's going to vote against this woman? Could we have a potential left-right opposition coalition? Will the liberal wing of the Democratic Party and the reactionary side of the GOP vote against her because nobody understands her stance on abortion? Is this is the case, then why did John Roberts get such broad support from the Republican caucus? Does Brownback know something that we don't know?

With all probability, Brownback's potential opposition status stems from a variety of issues, not simply the abortion one. He is wary of Mier's history of supporting gay rights, her understanding of defendant's rights, and her history as a moderate in the party, which she joined after being a lifelong Democrat. Brownback, like much of the GOP in Congress, is threatened by the possibility that justices who sympathize with the disenfranchised or the misrepresented could be interpreting the constitution for the country. My guess is that Mier's is too much of a do-gooder for him.

However, I've completely ignored the political aspects thusfar. Brownback has toyed with the notion of running for president, and nothing would suit him better for the Republican primary than to show the base that he's willing to take on any form of waffling on important social issues.

The Murder Charges Are Next

Tom DeLay was re-indicted by a grand jury on Monday, this time on charges of money laundering.

Although the case is probably based on a lot of the same evidence as the previous charges of conspiracy to violate campaign finance laws, the words "money laundering" say a lot to the average American. Every voter has heard the term before, often times in reference to mob bosses who need to funnel millions of dollars of illegal profits into sham investments. Furthermore, usually, in the case of the mafia, money laundering is the least of the crimes commited by those convicted of it.

No Fight?

The president nominated another unknown for the Supreme Court today, showing us that he intends to avoid the kind of confirmation battle that one of the more controversial judges could have caused.

What does this say about Bush? That he's weak? Probably not. It probably means that he has other priorities that he doesn't want disrupted by a judicial battle. This is especially true considering the president's low public approval ratings and lack of support from Congress on issues such as social security and immigration.

Democrats Look to Shake Up Primary Format

Via Political Wire:

"Democrats trying to change their presidential primaries for 2008 agreed to recommend that at least two other states join Iowa and New Hampshire in voting during the opening days of the nominating campaign," the AP reports.

That expansion "is intended to provide more racial and geographic diversity to an opening process now dominated by Iowa and New Hampshire. Those states, representing about 1.5 percent of the country's population, have residents who are mostly white. The additional states, expected to be named later, were likely to include a smaller state from the South and a smaller state from the Southwest or West."

We'll have more on this later.