Miers Withdraws Nomination

Harriet Miers has withdrawn her nomination to the Supreme Court.

President Bush said he reluctantly accepted her decision to withdraw, after weeks of insisting that he did not want her to step down. He blamed her withdrawal on calls in the Senate for the release of internal White House documents that the administration has insisted were protected by executive privilege.

"It is clear that senators would not be satisfied until they gained access to internal documents concerning advice provided during her tenure at the White House _ disclosures that would undermine a president's ability to receive candid counsel," Bush said. "Harriet Miers' decision demonstrates her deep respect for this essential aspect of the constitutional separation of powers _ and confirms my deep respect and admiration for her."

It looks like Charles Krauthammer called it.

Well, there goes the op-ed I was just getting ready to write explaining why Bush's only hope of saving his party from irrelevance for the next three years and himself from immediate lame-duck status was to either withdraw Miers' nomination himself or encourage her to do so.

On the bright side, conservatives have just been granted a reprieve, and it's time for Bush to act like a leader and appoint a nominee his base deserves.

Harriet Miers did not bring this hullabaloo upon herself, and I feel badly that she had to endure such criticism the past three weeks. But she has likely just done conservatives and Republicans a bigger favor than she ever could have done on the Court, and for that she is owed a debt of gratitude.

More later.

UPDATE: Michelle Malkin links to Miers' withdrawal notice.