James Dobson says that Karl Rove told him that several potential nominees had asked that their names be withdrawn from consideration for the Supreme Court.

And what I was referring to is the fact that on Saturday, the day before the President made his decision, I knew that Harrier Miers was at the top of the short list of names under consideration. And as you know, that information hadn't been released yet, and everyone in Washington and many people around the country wanted to know about it and the fact that he had shared with me is not something I wanted to reveal."

"But we also talked about something else, and I think this is the first time this has been disclosed. Some of the other candidates who had been on that short list, and that many conservatives are now upset about were highly qualified individuals that had been passed over. Well, what Karl told me is that some of those individuals took themselves off that list and they would not allow their names to be considered, because the process has become so vicious and so vitriolic and so bitter, that they didn't want to subject themselves or the members of their families to it.

I can well believe that there are many people who didn't want to go through what looked to be an ugly confirmation process. So, instead of getting someone that liberals attacked, Bush went with someone that conservatives would attack. Interesting strategy.

And if, as many conservatives hope, she withdraws her name, how many people would be willing to be nomintated to be her replacement as the person under attack? However, I find it hard to believe that no one suitable (however that would be defined) wants to be a Supreme Court justice. And I still doubt that Bush would ask her to withdraw her name; the only possibility is that she would decide that it just wasn't worth all the pummeling that she is receiving. However, if she is as tough as Bush thought she is, she could be pumped to prove herself.