What does Sensenbrenner know? Is Diane Sykes One Step Out of the SCOTUS?

A Diane Sykes candidacy for the SCOTUS is far more viable than the mainstream media have reported. I received this email from a Conservative activist:

A friend of ours (NAME REMOVED BY ME) was in Washington the last week of September lobbying with REMOVED BY ME. He said when they were in (Congressman Jim) Sensenbrenner's office, Sensenbrenner on his own brought up the topic of SCOTUS. Bear in mind this was before Miers was announced as nominee. Sensenbrenner told the small group assembled that Bush's next nominee would NOT be confirmed and that Bush's next nominee (after that) was going to be Diane Sykes! I just thought that was soooooo interesting for a couple of reasons. 1) As I said, Miers' name wasn't even out there yet and 2) I've been emailing the White House since early September saying Diane would be the ideal nominee. Her conservative credentials are unassailable; her legal intellect is praised by jurists of all political persuasions; she is YOUNG, attractive, personable...... and best yet, Feingold and Kohl would be in a real box since they pushed for her confirmation to the federal court.

I checked into this and I believe strongly that the MSM are missing a major story and it's more than activist gossip. The seriousness of a potential Diane Sykes nomination is not being reported, but it exists.

I think that Harriet Miers' nomination stands a serious chance of going down. I think it should. As I've written before, I do not believe Conservatives should have to nominate stealth nominees, and as a result I oppose Miers' nomination on principled grounds. The Conservative revolt over Miers is not going away; it's growing. The National Review online called today for Miers to step aside, for one. There is even a new verb out there in conservative circles. They have retired BORKING and MOVED ON TO MIERING. As one wrote on NRO:

So what does it mean “to mier” (as opposed to “to bork”)?

“to MIER: to put your own allies in the most untenable position possible based upon exceptionally bad decision making.”

“While steadlily going in reverse in the driveway of your own home, intentionally abruptly press gas pedal as to crash into garage door for no apparent reason.”

“Getting used to everyone hating you except your core supporters and thinking what the hell, it’d be cool to see what it’s like to have everyone hate you at same time."

I feel the Miers nomination is lost. It doesn't matter how much Bush runs around trying to make people think she's a conservative, when that's not the point. The point is people expected he would nominate an OBVIOUS conservative, not one where they had to read the tea leaves. People feel betrayed. The nomination is lost. OK, maybe I should say it's probably lost. But I really think it has the feel of being just... lost. Worse, the more that Bush tries to assure the base that Miers is really conservative, the more he loses liberals. Triangulation.

Could Diane Sykes be next? I don't profess to understand what's going on in Bush's mind nowadays because I still can't wrap my mind around WHAT he was thinking about Miers. But here is why a Diane Sykes candidacy would be a brilliant move for Bush. The more I think about it, the more I think that Diane Sykes has a female John Roberts feel about her. If Miers goes down, and Sykes is not picked, I believe she will be in the top three or four at least. There may be more supposedly being considered overall, but I think Bush would be under pressure to pick another woman, narrowing the pool of realistic candidates.

1. Diane Sykes won't have a problem in conservative circles. She is a card-carrying member of the federalist society. She was a "hanging judge." She had a conservative record on the bench. She's perceived as a rock-solid conservative.
2. Here's the reason it's genius: As mentioned by my email writer, a Sykes' nomination puts Wisconsin Democratic Senators Herb Kohl and Russ Feingold in a box. Wisconsin is unique in that we have TWO Democratic senators on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Both voted for Sykes last time. But they did more than that; they actively pushed her for the federal appeals court. And they were liberally quoted lavishing praise on her, saying they couldn't think of a reason to oppose her and citing the fact that she was so highly qualified blah blah blah. The humorous part is that I didn't believe Kohl and Feingold one bit that they think the Conservative Diane Sykes is the best thing since sliced bread. They just wanted Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle to get an appointment to the state Supreme Court. He appointed Louis Butler, who has solidified a new liberal majority on the court that is responsible for the decision on medical malpractice, among others. But now Kohl and Feingold would be in a box of their own creation. Which is deliciously humorous. What goes around comes around. They deserve it. NO RESERVATIONS about Sykes, both senators said then, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
3. Sensenbrenner is chair of the House Judiciary Committee. I heard the same thing as the email above from a second Conservative activist type, who said "Jim also mentioned that when he was pushing Sykes for the federal appeals court, he was already building her up to the White House as a 'future supreme'."
4. She is only in her late 40s. She could be on the SCOTUS for FORTY YEARS. Miers is in her 60s. She's too old.
5. Like Roberts, Sykes is attractive, articulate, and cagey about discussing her beliefs. Unlike Roberts, we know she's a conservative.
6. She's only been a federal judge since 2004, so there isn't a lengthy paper trail littered with land mines. Of course, the likely hot button case would be her sentencing of abortion protestors as a Milwaukee County circuit judge. Sykes praised the morality and character of the protestors. That will give conservative pro-lifers comfort. It will tick off the pro-abortion groups, but it's not enough to completely pin her down. And they tried that in 2004 and Kohl and Feingold dismissed the argument. And then there are the nutty remarks by crazed Dick Durbin that she was not upfront, which Kohl and Feingold also dismissed. These two issues - the smears about being "upfront" and the abortion case comments - will be front and center.
7. If Sykes had been nominated after Roberts, she would have seemed a bit green next to him - needing of more experience. But if she is nominated after a failed Miers' bid - she looks all the more qualified in contrast to Miers.
8. William Rehnquist just selected her before he died to serve on a prestigious committee that serves as the link between the federal judiciary and the Congress, so she is not an unknown commodity. But she's unknown enough that her nomination would not set off an immediate nuclear winter with Democrats, like a Janice Rogers Brown would.
9. Conservative bloggers love her. See: www.confirmthem.com, which has a lot of information posted on Sykes and has been buzzing about her since before Miers. The conservative bloggers have driven a lot of the anger on the right over Miers. And they are not letting up. But they like Sykes. A lot for the most part. They are upset about a case here or there, but the buzz is overwhelmingly positive. Examples:

   But if Bush chooses Sykes, from what I’ve learned of her, I’ll be shouting hosannas!

   Sykes is the youngest and potentially longest serving. She’s a fed society member, an admitted textualist, and a known conservative.

   Feingold and Kohl wouldn’t exactly look great in thwarting a hometown girl from getting on the Supreme Court. Especially one who’s not far out or radical.

   In 2021 Diane Sykes won’t qualify for social security benefits, even assuming they aren't cut.

10. She was picked by a bipartisan commission in Wisconsin.
11. Charlie would get dragged into it, but that wouldn't get too far. Liberals couldn't get much mileage out of conflating her views with his. Not fair. But the association with Charlie would give Conservatives extra secret comfort.
12. The Senate voted 70-27 to confirm her to the federal bench. She obtained the support of 21 Democrats.
13. No one can say Sykes is not qualified. Or a crony of Bush. She has none of the Miers' problems.

Update: Miers' Out. New readers, click on home page for new posting on this topic.