The Moose analyses the divide among the faithful.
Ironically, the Miers nomination has not resulted in a fissure among Democrats but among the conservative faithful. In fact, Democrats are reveling over the Republican imbroglio over the Miers nomination.
There are two distinct camps among the righties over Harriet - the fawning faithful and the reality based conservatives. The fawning faithful are largely faith-based. The leader of this camp is Dr. Dobson who has given his qualified blessing to the nomination. However, the critical thinker of this faction is Marvin Olasky, a controversial figure who created a brief storm in 2000 suggesting that three Jewish journalists comprised a "religion of Zeus."
Olasky provided the key comment on Miers on his blog,
"Miers has been a member of Valley View Christian Church in Dallas for 25 years, where Hecht has been an elder. He calls it a "conservative evangelical church... in the vernacular, fundamentalist, but the media have used that word to tar us." He says she was on the missions committee for ten years, taught children in Sunday School, made coffee, brought donuts: "Nothing she's asked to do in church is beneath her." On abortion, choosing his words carefully for an on-the-record statement, he says "her personal views are consistent with that of evangelical Christians... You can tell a lot about her from her decade of service in a conservative church."
In sum, Olasky is making the point that Miers is kosher because she is an Evangelical Christian. That was also a key factor for W. in receiving that community's blessing in 2000. It is the critical element for Miers now.
The faith based Miers supporters are also comprised of Republicans who will accept anything that W. does merely on... faith. That group is diminishing in numbers as the President increasingly disappoints the faithful.
In contrast to the faith-based righties are the reality based conservatives whose views are represented by Bill Kristol and most of the folks at the National Review. They look at Miers' credentials and pedigree and are repelled by the nomination. Note these comments by Jonah Goldberg,
"If nominating an evangelical pushes Democratic buttons, shame on the Democrats for having their buttons pushable on such a thing.
No, my only real objection is that she doesn't seem to be overwhelmingly qualified for the job. Surely, there are more qualified evangelical judicial conservatives out there, including female ones. The problem with being under-qualified, aside from the obvious points about merit, is that it gives Democrats a good reason not to take the bait the White House is trying to lay out for them."
The Moose delights in this divide. -- | 
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