She Returns Harry Reid's Phone Calls

With observers in Washington and beyond scratching their heads, this headline from the SF Chronicle neatly sums up the conventional wisdom on the nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court:

Bush turns to a loyalist -- dodges fight with Dems

Peter Baker in the Washington Post leads with this anecdote:

About two weeks ago, White House Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card Jr. told presidential counsel Harriet Miers to add another name to the Supreme Court selection process she was leading. The new candidate: Harriet Miers.
"What do you mean me?" she asked, according to a colleague.You may recall that when Bush was considering candidates for vice president in 2000, he ended up picking the guy, Cheney, who led the selection process.

Dan Balz in the Washington Post highlights the president's weakness:

If President Bush's goal is to shift the Supreme Court in a more conservative direction, his nomination of White House counsel Harriet Miers yesterday signaled a desire to do so as quietly as possible.

In his appearance with Miers yesterday (available on C-SPAN), Harry Reid seemed to be reaching for compliments:

I haven't known Harriet Myers a real long time, but I found her to be very personable, genuine, somebody who answers her phone calls immediately, and um, I think...

I can picture the conversation in Andy Card's office, "Who do have that's on speaking terms with Harry Reid?" If returning Reid's phone calls was a consideration, then Bush must be feeling weaker than we imagined.