We’re already hearing about some of the candidates President Bush might choose to replace White House Counsel Harriet Miers as the President’s nominee to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court. Some say Miers’ withdrawal gives the President an opportunity to choose another woman or a minority – or both. Senator Jim Talent, who will eventually vote on the new nominee, says several factors will be taken into account, with gender, race, and ethnicity among them. But he also thinks the President should consider regional diversity – choosing someone from a part of the country underrepresented on the High Court. He adds that while Miers was criticized by some for never having been a judge, the President should not restrict his choices to judges. As for the Miers’ nomination, Talent says he never had the chance to talk to ehr about her judicial philosophy, so he doesn’t know whether he would have voted for her confirmation had the nomination been sent to the floor.
