Schaffer: Fear aside, no reason to doubt president's faith in his nominee

The firestorm of public debate since Miers' nomination Monday has been exhilarating to say the least. One thing is clear; the media hate it when Bush knows more about something than they do.

Fear of the unknown can drive people to all manner of premature conclusions. President George Bush's nomination of Harriet Miers to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor is a case in point.

The firestorm of public debate since Miers' nomination Monday has been exhilarating to say the least. One thing is clear; the media hate it when Bush knows more about something than they do.

Obvious to all is that our president is most comfortable, confident and content about his high court nominees. Impending confirmation hearings will shed more light on his latest pick. But until then, Bush deserves the benefit of any doubt regarding Miers.

Throughout his two presidential campaigns, Bush made crystal clear his intention to advance only strict constructionists to judicial posts. He promised appointees who will not legislate from the bench and who will rely exclusively on solid constitutional principles to answer legal disputes. Those are the values upon which the president was twice elected.

This is why Americans devote so much of themselves to electing presidents. Bush warrants Miers fulfills his campaign promise and no one has offered substantive or credible evidence to the contrary. Fear of the unknown is the only common retort. Yet, it's hard to imagine a quality more crucial to the republic than Bush's constitutional standard.

One of the brightest jurists of the 20th century said, "The court is most vulnerable and comes nearest to illegitimacy when it deals with judge-made constitutional law having little or no cognizable roots in the language or design of the Constitution." That observation was made by Justice Byron White, perhaps Colorado's greatest son.

Miers has much in common with White. An Internet word search linking both names generates more than 12,000 fresh articles in which the two are compared. Most mention one similarity: Neither had judicial experience prior to serving on the Supreme Court. That could be said of about a third of past Supreme Court justices, too.

But the similarities go deeper. Briefly, White was a Fort Collins-born, standout athlete at the University of Colorado. He was a Navy intelligence officer during World War II. He played pro football, earned his law degree and practiced private law. In 1960, White worked on John F. Kennedy's presidential campaign heading the candidate's efforts in Colorado.

Immediately, President Kennedy picked White as a deputy attorney general and a year later nominated him to the Supreme Court. Unlike Miers, White's close personal acquaintance with the president, his political activism, his corporate law experience and his White House insider status were not considered demerits.

In fact, they were positive assurances White would reflect Kennedy's values on the court. White's Senate confirmation hearing lasted 15 minutes. He responded to eight questions from senators then aced a perfunctory full-Senate vote.