Senator Lindsey Graham for SCOTUS.

The biggest loser in the Harriet Miers saga is the nominee herself. The attacks will cease now that she has withdrawn (story here) but these past weeks must have been bruising.

The clear winner is the conservative punditry who turned their savage tongues on Miers from the start because she was not one of their own. Their denunciations of the President went way over the top as well, with their moveon.org-like charges of cronyism and incompetence. What really rankled was George Will's charge that George W. Bush is not suited to choosing a justice for the Supreme Court because he does not understand constitutional philosophy or some such nonsense. But George Will is, of course. Thanks, George, for telling us that Lewis Powell was THE conservative justice. Who'd have thunk it?

Mister Americano was unhappy with the Miers pick because he, too, would have preferred a more clearly conservative nominee. But he remained neutral on the choice out of political loyalty to the President. That loyalty was sorely tested by the release of Harriet Miers' speeches from 1993. To the President's and Miers' credit once those speeches came out, they withdrew her nomination.

So what should President Bush do now?

Mister Americano is ambivalent. One side says go for broke with Janice Rogers Brown or someone of her ilk, if they'll agree to endure the nomination process. Another side says stick it to the privileged pundit bastards. Already they are laying down challenges to the President and saying that he'd better not nominate Alberto Gonzales or someone like him. It's either one of their cronies or it's nobody.

The President's constituency for the next nomination is the Senate not the pundits. Are Orrin Hatch or Lindsey Graham interested in wearing black robes at their day jobs for the rest of their lives?

Hatch has cross-over appeal as proven by his practice of working with Ted Kennedy. Graham was in the Air Force for 6 years and a lawyer in private practice before entering politics. He served in Congress and now in the Senate. In the Senate he serves on the Judiciary Committee. And he's already a judge. Here's what his official bio (here) says:

"Since 1995, Graham has continued to serve his country in the U.S. Air Force Reserves and is the only U.S. Senator currently serving in the Guard or Reserves. He is a colonel and is assigned as a Reserve Judge to the Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals."

Not just a judge, but an appellate judge.

Plus he's part of the Gang of 14 who helped break the logjam in the Senate and get Bush's judicial nominees through, and he's vocally parted with the President on certain issues, so he's not a crony.

Mister Americano is convinced. Senator Lindsey Graham should be the next nominee to fill the John McKinley seat on the Supreme Court.

-tdr