c. 2005 Religion News Service

WASHINGTON _ Now that Harriet Miers has withdrawn as President Bush’s Supreme Court nominee, religious conservatives appear eager to unite behind a nominee likely to rule in their favor on hot-button issues like abortion, gay rights and church-state separation.

“We are assured that the president will keep his promise to nominate a strict constitutionalist, who will uphold the principles that have made America great and not legislate from the bench,” said Wendy Wright, executive vice president of Concerned Women for America, in a statement issued Thursday (Oct. 27), the day of Miers’ withdrawal.

“We stand ready to support a nominee who truly is in the mold of Antonin Scalia or Clarence Thomas.”

Wright echoed comments made by other leading religious conservatives, who had been split over the Miers nomination. At first, some had been disturbed that there wasn’t a clear sense of Miers’ stance on key social issues. This week, conservative opposition to Miers galvanized when it was revealed she gave speeches more than a decade ago saying “self-determination” should guide decisions about abortion.

Now, with that controversial nomination behind them, these conservatives are again hopeful that Bush will choose someone with a perspective on judicial matters that is close to their own.

The Washington-based Concerned Women for America had called for Miers’ withdrawal the day before she made the move. Liberty Counsel, a Florida-based national litigation organization, had made a similar call earlier in the month.

“I urge the president to keep his campaign promise to appoint justices who respect the rule of law and who will remain loyal to the purpose and intent of the Constitution,” said Mathew D. Staver, president and general counsel of Liberty Counsel.

“It is not often that you have the opportunity to correct a bad decision, but this is exactly the opportunity afforded to the president.”

Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of the Washington-based American Center for Law and Justice, had supported the Miers’ nomination and expressed his appreciation for her putting the interests of the country ahead of her own.

“I have no doubt that the president will put forth a nominee who has a conservative judicial philosophy _ someone who will not legislate from the bench,” he said. “The American Center for Law and Justice will continue to support the president as he seeks to identify and nominate solid judicial conservatives for the federal courts.”

The Rev. Louis P. Sheldon, chairman of the Washington-based Traditional Values Coalition, also appreciated Miers’ “unselfish action” and said the choice of the next nominee “will be the most important decision of Mr. Bush’s presidency.”

“I trust that he will find someone who, like him, is a person of strong and identifiable principles _ one who has participated fully in the important public policy debates,” he said.

James Dobson, an influential religious broadcaster, expressed relief on Thursday that Miers withdrew.

Dobson had previously disclosed on his nationally broadcast radio show “Focus on the Family” that senior presidential adviser Karl Rove had called him before the choice of Miers was publicly announced. Dobson said Rove told him that Miers was, among other things, an evangelical Christian who attended “a very conservative church, which is almost universally pro-life.”

Based in part on Rove’s description, Dobson publicly supported Miers. But he described that support as “tentative” on Thursday.

“In recent days, I have grown increasingly concerned about her conservative credentials, and I was dismayed to learn this week about her speech in 1993, in which she sounded pro-abortion themes, and expressed so much praise for left-wing feminist leaders,” Dobson said. “Based on what we now know about Miss Miers, it appears that we would not have been able to support her candidacy.”

Miers’ evangelical Christian background was highlighted by the White House, with Bush himself telling reporters “part of Harriet Miers’ life is her religion.” Critics and even some Bush supporters took issue with that approach, saying it was hypocritical for the White House to contend Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts’ Catholicism should be off-limits during his successful nomination hearings and then trump Miers’ evangelical faith.

Among the most outspoken critics were church-state separation groups, who urged Bush on Thursday to choose a new nominee appropriate for the entire country.

“Harriet Miers’ withdrawal shows the disproportionate power of the religious right on the Bush administration,” said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Washington-based Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

“… She seems to have been forced out because she was insufficiently far right on abortion, gay rights and church-state separation. This is appalling. I hope President Bush now selects someone who is both abundantly qualified and possesses a clear commitment to individual freedom.”

The Rev. C. Welton Gaddy, president of the Washington-based Interfaith Alliance, sent a message to supporters of his organization after Miers’ withdrawal encouraging them to contact Bush and members of Congress to urge that religion not be used for partisan purposes.

“The Interfaith Alliance will again urge President Bush to nominate a justice not based on his or her religious faith but on judicial qualifications and a commitment to defend the Constitution and its guarantee of religious liberty for all Americans,” he said.

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Eds.: Mathew is cq in 6th graph below.