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October 04, 2005

Most Qualified?

So who knew that the former Texas Lottery commisioner was one with the winning number for the U.S. Supreme Court?

The Left is crying cronyism and it hard to say that they are wrong. Bush could have thrown darts at the D.C. Yellow Pages and found a more qualified woman attorney. In fact, woman lawyers should feel insulted; does the president honestly think the Miers is the most qualified American woman with a law degree? Just for fun, let's compare Miers' résumé with that of radio talk show host Laura Ingraham.

Compare Miers Ingraham
Sources and methods: For items, not listed on Laura Ingraham's bio, I consulted her producer, Lee Habeeb.For items not listed on Miers's bio, I phoned the White House and relied on wire reports.
Undergraduate college Southern Methodist University Dartmouth College
Campus conservative? No Yes, Dartmouth Review editor
Law school Southern Methodist University University of Virgina Law School
Federalist Society Member? No Yes
Law review? No Yes, Notes Editor
Clerked for federal judge? Yes, for U.S. District Judge Joe Estes (Dallas) Yes, Ralph K. Winter, U.S. Court of Appeals (second circuit)
Clerked for U.S. Supreme Court? No Yes, Clarence Thomas
Watched Supreme Court proceedings at least once? No Yes
Published law review articles? No No
Age 60 42 (roughly)
Attorney at top 20 national law firm? No, even after a merger between Mier's firm (Locke, Purnell, Rain & Harrell), the new firm known as Locke, Liddell & Sapp was ranked 94th by National Law Journal in 2003 Yes, Skadden, Arps, Meagher & Flom (ranked no. 3 by National Law Journal in 2003)
White House Experience? Yes, Deputy Chief of Staff (Bush) (one year).
Also, Staff Secretary.
Yes, Speechwriter (Reagan) (two years).
Other government experience? Texas Lottery Commision (5 years) U.S. Dept. of Transportation (Reagan)
U.S. Dept. of Education (Reagan)
Papertrail? No Yes, two books, including one bestseller. Many bylined articles in national outlets.
First woman president of fill-in-the-blank? Yes. Who cares? It is a Supreme Court appointment, not a pitch for cover story in Ms. magazine.  
Known by millions of Americans? No Yes. Laura hosts the fourth most-popular radio show in the nation.

Posted by Richard Miniter at October 4, 2005 09:07 AM

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