[Mb-civic] Miers to Face Tougher Time Than Roberts in Hearings - Washington Post

[William Swiggard]

Miers to Face Tougher Time Than Roberts in Hearings

By Peter Baker and Dan Balz
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, October 9, 2005; Page A01

In a room at the Justice Department this summer, Harriet Miers listened 
silently as young lawyers playing senators threw question after question 
at John G. Roberts Jr. at a secret practice hearing, or "murder board." 
She watched as he rattled off Supreme Court cases and, as one 
participant put it, "artfully dodged" inquiries he did not want to answer.

Now it's her turn. After an unexpectedly rocky first week, Miers's 
nomination to the Supreme Court appears likely to hinge on her 
performance before the Senate Judiciary Committee at hearings that 
probably will open early next month, according to strategists in both 
parties.

The question is how much she learned from Roberts's murder boards and 
how much constitutional law she can master in cramming sessions over the 
next several weeks.

Unlike Roberts, who made a career arguing before the high court and 
commands the nuances of obscure rulings, Miers never practiced that sort 
of law, nor did she, in her various behind-the-scenes roles at the Bush 
White House, demonstrate the sort of skill at public performance that 
Senate hearings demand.

Given her lack of background, lawyers and politicians predict, her 
hearings could easily turn into a stump-the-nominee contest. And 
following Roberts, as Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) put it last week, will 
be like "following Elvis."

"The hearings for her are the defining moment," said Kenneth M. 
Duberstein, the former Reagan White House chief of staff who shepherded 
two Supreme Court nominations through the Senate for President George 
H.W. Bush. "This is prime time, when America really gets its first look 
at her and the first time they'll really be listening."

Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), like Brownback a Judiciary Committee 
member and expected to be one of Miers's tougher interrogators, said her 
testimony could determine the outcome. With conservatives disgruntled 
about her selection and liberals disinclined to support any Bush 
nomination, Miers faces the prospect of tough grilling from both sides.

"These hearings are going to be crucial -- more crucial than any in a 
long, long time," Schumer said in an interview. "It's not going to be an 
easy hearing for Harriet Miers. Roberts was sure of his right flank, and 
she can't be. And Roberts, of course, is brilliant. No one will be as 
good. He spent his life doing this. Harriet Miers is a very capable 
lawyer but is not someone who has spent her life litigating before the 
Supreme Court."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/08/AR2005100801459.html?referrer=email
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