October 4, 2005, 3:23 AM EDT
WASHINGTON -- In picking White House insider Harriet Miers as his second Supreme Court choice, President Bush may have had his eyes more on his legacy than on his political base.
Supreme Court justices are the living legacies of the presidents who appoint them.
Almost everything else has gone wrong for Bush lately. His goal of bringing democracy and stability to Iraq -- which Bush probably hoped would be a big part of his legacy -- continues to go badly. Terror mastermind Osama bin Laden remains at large. Bush's approval ratings are near the low point of his presidency. And Republicans in Congress are weakened by internal disputes and investigations.
In naming his White House counsel and sometime personal lawyer to the seat of retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, Bush followed a pattern established with his selection of John Roberts to be chief justice: a seemingly play-it-safe choice that immediately won the praise of some of the Senate's most combative Democrats and seemed to rule out a bitter confirmation fight.
http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-scotus-bush-legacy,0,7678521.story?coll=sns-ap-politics-headlinesYou know, I don't think it's his legacy that Bush is worried about. I think he's much more concerned about stacking the Supreme Court with friends who will rule in his favor when all those court cases BushCo is facing finally make it to the Supreme Court.