Miers' campaign gains little ground

~ So far, no Republican senator has announced plans to vote against confirmation.

WASHINGTON -- Behind closed doors, the former senator trying to smooth the way for confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers appealed for patience. She is qualified, said Dan Coats, asking that those in the audience wait for hearings before making up their mind.

It was a routine request. Except that Coats, R-Ind., was speaking to a roomful of dubious Republican senators, rather than Democrats, in remarks that underscored Miers' clouded confirmation prospects.

Not that Democrats are lining up to praise the woman President Bush named to succeed Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

Unsuccessful efforts

"I would say that to this point Ms. Miers' efforts to win support have not been successful," said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who has met with the 60-year-old White House counsel.

Democrats were divided on John Roberts' nomination as chief justice this year, while Republicans quickly mobilized into a bloc of 55 votes that assured his elevation from a federal appeals court.

Not so for Miers -- at least not yet -- as Bush and his aides struggle to quell a revolt by conservatives that erupted instantly after her nomination three weeks ago.

There have been some vaguely positive signs for the administration. Thus far, no Republican senator has announced plans to vote against confirmation. Coats and other officials are struggling to keep it that way, hoping Miers will begin to attract support with a strong performance at her hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Sen. Trent Lott, who once spoke derisively about Miers, seemed to signal he was moving toward a vote in her favor. It is "more than likely at some point I'll be satisfied. But I'm not there yet," said Lott, R-Miss.

But in a week that White House officials hoped would mark a turnaround in a ragged confirmation campaign, there also were numerous missteps.

A misunderstanding

Atop the list was an awkward disagreement between Miers and Sen. Arlen Specter, the Judiciary Committee chairman, about what Miers said in a private meeting.

Specter, R-Pa., told reporters that Miers had backed two Supreme Court rulings that affirmed a constitutional right to privacy and are forerunners to the 1973 case that established abortion rights. In an interview, Coats disputed that, saying Miers had declined to discuss specific cases, and officials said Miers called Specter to say he had misunderstood.

An aide issued a statement saying the senator "accepts Ms. Miers' statement that he misunderstood what she said." That was different from acknowledging he had been wrong, Specter made clear, when he told reporters the next day his own recollection was as he had originally stated it.

Later, at a news conference, Specter said he would review the conversation with Miers in public. "The sooner we get into a hearing room where there's a stenographer and a public record, the better off the process is," the senator said.

A private appeal

Coats made his private appeal to Republicans the following day, but there was a moment of confusion in the same meeting, according to GOP officials who described the events. This time, Specter and others wanted to know whether Miers had signed her name to a 1989 candidate survey that indicated support for a constitutional amendment to ban most abortions or whether a document delivered to the committee on her behalf was unsigned.

Coats said he did not know the answer. It took a phone call to the White House to confirm that she had, in fact, signed her name. The officials who described the events spoke on condition of anonymity, noting the private nature of the meeting.

At the same time, Specter and Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the committee's senior Democrat, said Miers had failed to fill out the committee's questionnaire adequately.

"The comments I have heard range from incomplete to insulting," Leahy said at a news conference where he and Specter announced they were seeking additional information from Miers.

In a puzzling footnote, a White House spokeswoman said Friday that despite statements by her friend, Texas Supreme Court Judge Nathan Hecht, Miers was not a Catholic before becoming an evangelical Christian.

Miers herself has never said she was.

But the incident left unanswered the question of why the administration had not clarified the issue until contacted by the Catholic News Service, which first reported the story.

At the same time, the Senate committee has begun looking into conference calls run by administration allies as part of the campaign to reassure conservatives.

A senior committee aide has spoken with James Dobson, head of Focus on the Family, according to a spokesman for the conservative organization. Dobson drew notice when he said he had private assurances from the White House that Miers is opposed to abortion.

The spokesman, Paul Hetrick, said Dobson told the committee aide he had not received information on how Miers might rule on the 1973 abortion case that conservatives want overturned.

It is likely Dobson will be interviewed again by the committee staff, according to several officials. Hetrick said Dobson would gladly appear before the committee if asked.

Committee aides also are expected to interview Hecht and U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade, both of whom were reportedly on an Oct. 3 conference call at which Miers and her views on abortion were discussed.