So who is this Miers lady anyway? (UPDATED)

There's a lot of controversy in the blogosphere about Bush's SCOTUS nominee Harriet Meirs. Some like her, some are ambivalent, and some just plain don't like her. Here's some comments:

Michelle Malkin:
Well, it's a new day. Upon sober reflection, President Bush's nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court appears...even worse than it did 24 hours ago. Conservative legal scholar John Yoo sums up the decision as an "opportunity squandered." A smattering of my conservative readers who are trying to rationalize the nomination point to Miers' bid to get the ABA to reconsider its pro-abortion rights stance. She tried to change policy. Good for her. But this tells us nothing about Miers' judicial philosophy or temperament. She isn't running for city council or state legislature, for God's sake. Bush has proposed putting her on the Highest Court of the Land, for the rest of her natural life.

Patrick Ruffini:
At the risk of drawing the undying enmity of The Herd, I'm going to state categorically that conservatism is sitting pretty at this hour. That's because Harry Reid has just been hosed – and he doesn't even know it. The navel gazers are nabobing about another Souter. That's silly. The Court will almost certainly move to the right as a result of the nomination and confirmation of Harriet Miers. And here's why.

It's true. Little is known about the views of Harriet Miers. But what is known, through official and unofficial channels, paints a picture of a conservative Texas lawyer with rock-solid beliefs on life, strong religious convictions, and a modesty that should allay fears of a renegade Justice determined to remake society through the courts. John Roberts was the silver-tongued, inside-the-Beltway pick for the Court; Miers is the plain spoken red stater.

Captain Ed (at Captain's Quarters):
Miers could well surprise all of us and turn out to be another Scalia or Thomas, or more likely a Rehnquist. Even if she turned out to be an O'Connor with a bit more consistency, it still moves the court to the right. If outcome-based nominations were all that interested us, that would certainly prove satisfactory.

However, we have long argued against such a strategy. Conservatives have waited a very long time to have both a Republican president, a GOP-controlled Senate, and an opening on the Supreme Court that allowed us to nominate not just any lawyer willing to pay lip service to the philosophy of judicial "humility", as John Roberts put it, but someone with a track record of putting it into practice. We had a one-time shot, with the Democrats having to play defense for a potential retirement of John Paul Stevens, to have another true constitutional scholar and conservative philosopher confirmed to the Supreme Court.

What did we get? Another long-term Bush buddy getting a lifetime job on the basis of proximity instead of excellence.

Polipundit:
I’ve had a day to reflect on the Miers nomination, and I’ve come to the conclusion that this is an exceedingly good decision. Let’s line up the objections and knock ‘em down.

1. Miers may not be a conservative.

The President has known Miers for a long time, in every sense but the Biblical one. George W. Bush is a conservative who wants to appoint conservative judges. His word on Miers’ ideology is good enough for me.

2. Miers isn’t the best-qualified person.

This matters not a whit. Ideology trumps all. If a mangy yellow dog were the SCOTUS nominee, I’d support it, if it would consistently vote with Scalia-Thomas.

John Hawkins at Right Wing News has a round up of more comments around the blogosphere.

Me? I think it's far to early to tell. No, we don't have a lot of information about her, which is why I'm withholding judgement. Bush knows her, I don't. Most of the people who don't like her know little about her. The same goes for people who do like her. Once the hearings are done then I can make a decision about it. Even then, we might know for sure until she is actually on the bench and starts making decisions.

Stay tuned.

UPDATE: The Political Teen has the text (and mp3) of VP Dick Cheney on Hannity and Colmes last night on Fox.