'Rudderless White House' Fights Miers' Choppy Seas

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-miers21oct21,0,785632.story?coll=la-home-nation

WASHINGTON — The Bush White House is not supposed to work like this.

The nomination of Harriet E. Miers to the Supreme Court has gotten off to a stumbling start that bears little resemblance to the president's first-term performance of pursuing major goals with discipline, focus and a united party behind him.

Nearly three weeks after President Bush chose Miers, her prospects for confirmation are clouded by opposition from conservative activists that is not waning, questions about her qualifications that remain unanswered, and lukewarm support even from strong Bush loyalists in the Senate.

White House officials and their allies had taken comfort from the fact that the loudest criticism of Miers' selection came from conservative activists outside the Capitol — not from the senators who would vote on the nomination.

But that security blanket began to fray this week as one of her most important Senate allies, Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), publicly rebuked Miers for giving what were called inadequate responses to a questionnaire, and disputed her account of what she told him in a private meeting.

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