Harriet Miers - who is to blame?

Previous - An idea . . .

A number of commentators have weighed in with their thoughts on who really is to blame for the Harriet Miers debacle. Thomas Sowell rightly points the finger at the moderates in the Republican party in the Senate:

President Bush has taken on too many tough fights -- Social Security being a classic example -- to be regarded as a man who is personally weak. What is weak is the Republican majority in the Senate.

When it comes to taking on a tough fight with the Senate Democrats over judicial nominations, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist doesn't really have a majority to lead. Before the President nominated anybody, before he even took the oath of office for his second term, Senator Arlen Specter was already warning him not to nominate anyone who would rile up the Senate. Later, Senator John Warner issued a similar warning. It sounded like a familiar Republican strategy of pre-emptive surrender.

Before we can judge how the President played his hand, we have to consider what kind of hand he had to play. It was a weak hand -- and the weakness was in the Republican Senators.

Mark Levin reminds us of John McCain's disastrous deal earlier this year with the Democrats -

But McCain — who wants to be president and has now endorsed Harriet Miers — and his cadre must not escape scrutiny for their blunder.

McCain's backstabbing does not excuse President Bush. Had Bush nominated a well known, qualified judge, the blame would have been placed squarely where it belongs - On McCain and on the leftists that control the Democratic Party. But because Bush has chosen a stealth nominee, he has shifted the blame onto himself. He has protected those who would stab him in the back. Bush takes the blame instead of those who undermine the conservative fight to reestablish limited government.

- More on McCain here (peripherally related).

- Wizbang Carnival of Trackbacks.

- Captain's analysis of WaPo coverage.