Daily Briefing: 'So Vicious and So Vitriolic'
•Attorneys for Republican senators on the Judiciary Committee express "uniform disappointment" withMiersand are "pushing back against her." Said one lawyer, "Everybody is hoping that something will happen onMiers, either that the president would withdraw her or she would realize she is not up to it and pull out while she has some dignity intact." [ NYT ]
• DobsonsaysRoveassured him thatMiersis a conservative evangelical Christian, though Roe v. Wade "was never part of our discussion";Rovereportedly explained that alternative candidates removed their names "because the process has become so vicious and so vitriolic and so bitter." [ LAT , WT ]
• Judith Millerwill testify for a second day today; prosecutors are investigating earlier conversations between administration officials and journalists. [ WP , NYT , WSJ ]
• Laurasays criticisms ofMiersmight be sexist.William Kristol: "It is striking to me they are spending less time explaining the merits ofHarriet Miersand more time. . . using liberal talking points to criticize the critics. I think it is going to backfire." [ WP , NYT , WT ]
•White House strategy shifts focus toMiers' religious credibility. [ USAT ]
• Bushin New Orleans: "Out of this rubble is going to come some good; out of the devastation is going to come new cities and new hope." [ NYT ]
• MilbankonBush's "Today" interview: "The president was a blur of blinks, taps, jiggles, pivots and shifts.Bushhas always been an active man, but standing withLauerand the serene, steady first lady, he had the body language of a man wishing urgently to be elsewhere." [ WP ]
• DeLayremains a go-to, agenda-setting congressman. [ NYT ]
• McCainadvances his own agenda ahead of the White House and the Republican leadership.McCain: "Do I want to be president? Sure. Do I want to run for president? That's the question." [ WSJ ]
•SenatorsGreggandKennedypropose that a new federal agency with a cabinet-level czar coordinate the reconstruction of the Gulf Coast. [ WSJ ]
• Negropontetakes "extraordinary step" by posting 6,000-word letter fromAyman al-Zawahiri, a top al Qaeda leader, on its website. [ NYT ]
•Supreme Court will decide on legal limits of the Clean Water Act. [ WP , WSJ , NYT ]
• Bush's tax advisory panel will "recommend limits in the popular tax deductions for mortgage interest and employer-provided health insurance." [ NYT , WSJ ]
• Miersacknowledged her admiration ofWarren Burger, though the wording of the conversation is up in the air. [ WP ]
•Ethics experts are skeptical thatFristcould avoid conflicts of interests concerning health stocks. [ WP ]
• Howard Kurtz: "The newsgathering mission of the Times. . . has collided with the understandably human need to protect its reporter. In such a circumstance, the journalism must come first." [ WP ]
• Earlerefuses subpoena fromDeLay's defense team. [ LAT ]
• Clintonwill fundraise for Virginia gubernatorial candidateTimothy Kaine. [ WP ]