That was then-Governor George Bush talking about the then-chair of the Texas Lottery Commission, Harriet Miers. Today, rumors surfaced that Bush is considering Miers as a possible replacement for Sandra Day O'Connor. Miers currently is serving as White House Counsel, and she has two attributes other than her gender that make her an appealing candidate. First, she is a longtime and loyal confidant of the President. At one time, Miers was Bush's private lawyer, and this profile in WaPo, quoting her former law partner in Dallas, suggests that she had the right stuff:

"The thing that comes to mind when I think of Harriet is that she basically puts her clients' interests ahead of everything, including her own personal life, sleeping hours and all those things. She is defined by hard work, dedication and client loyalty."

While it is often said that President Bush values loyalty above all else, there is something else that would be attractive about a Miers appointment that may be equally important to the President: no judicial record. If she is nominated, we can expect an intense search for clues about her positions on abortion rights and ... well, abortion rights. But she looks like someone who has spent most of her career representing others' views, not proclaiming her own. This may make her difficult to oppose, but it also makes her performance on the Court difficult to predict.

P.S. Perhaps the most remarkable thing that I found about Harriet Miers: not only does she merit an entry in Wikipedia, but it is already updated to account for the rumor! Do you think she is updating that article herself?

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