Federalist #76

"'To what purpose then require the co-operation of the Senate? I answer, that the necessity of their concurrence would have a powerful, though, in general, a silent operation. It would be an excellent check upon a spirit of favoritism in the President, and would tend greatly to prevent the appointment of unfit characters from State prejudice, from family connection, from personal attachment, or from a view to popularity... He would be both ashamed and afraid to bring forward, for the most distinguished or lucrative stations, candidates who had no other merit than that of coming from the same State to which he particularly belonged, or of being in some way or other personally allied to him, or of possessing the necessary insignificance and pliancy to render them the obsequious instruments of his pleasure.'"

As the author in this WSJ.com commentary presents, the questioning of this nomination is not so much on Harriet Miers the person or attorney, but on George Bush himself and the obvious cronyism demonstrated by this action. This is not the legacy that George Bush wants, but he is doing little to change it.