when somebody would make this argument. Kevin Martin, a former Scalia clerk, argues that Miers has the right temperament, judicial philosophy, and skills to be a good justice. (He also allows that she’s not the nominee he would have picked–a concession that, I believe, only one defender of the nomination has failed to make.) Check out the conclusion: “Conservatives are doing Harriet Miers a grave disservice by their immediate opposition to her. Indeed, the opposition could ultimately prove self-defeating if she is confirmed and begrudges the assaults on her competence and integrity from the right.”

So she’s the right person for the job. Although she may be the kind of person who will change her views about what the Constitution means out of spite. One of Martin’s two concluding sentences has to be wrong, doesn’t it?

I suppose it’s only a matter of time before someone asserts that President Bush is deeply committed to conservative ideas about the courts but will, if conservatives sink Miers, pick a liberal for the next nominee.