Harriet Miers' ghost haunts McConnell and GOP with Kagan nomination

Sam Stein:

"She's never had to develop the judicial habit of saying no to an administration, and we can't simply assume that she would," McConnell said.

Taken alone, the attack on Kagan for having held largely political posts ignores the fact that those posts were hardly the only jobs she's held. As Solicitor General for Obama and deputy chief of staff at the Domestic Policy Council for Bill Clinton, Kagan was tasked -- first and foremost -- with carrying out the legal objectives of the administration. But she's held positions outside of politics that certainly allowed her to "say no" to a White House: whether as a clerk to Justice Thurgood Marshall, her time in private practice, or as dean of Harvard Law School.

But where McConnell falls short is with consistency. If dependence on a president was a disqualifier for a Supreme Court nominee, than the Kentucky Republican would have had major objections to Bush's choice of Harriet Miers -- the White House counsel whose career was essentially tied to Bush, a man she called the "best governor ever," "cool," and "the greatest!"

When Miers was nominated, however, McConnell was effusive with praise.

"Ms. Miers has an exemplary record of service to our country," he said after her nomination. "She will bring to the Court a lifetime of experience in various levels of government, and at the highest levels of the legal profession. She is a woman of tremendous ability and very sound judgment. ...She is well qualified to join the nation's highest court. ... She will make a fine addition to the Supreme Court, and I look forward to her confirmation."

I think it's good for Dems to point out the inconsistency, though the last thing we need is anyone defending Kagan by comparing her to Harriet Miers.