Bush defends conservative lawyer as qualified for top court job

IN THE face of criticism from the left and right, US President George W Bush insisted yesterday that Harriet Miers is the best-qualified candidate for the Supreme Court and assured sceptical conservatives that his lawyer-turned-nominee shares his judicial philosophy — and won’t stray from a rightward course.

"I've known her long enough to know she's not going to change, that 20 years from now she will be the same person with the same judicial philosophy she has today," Mr Bush said. "She'll have more experience. She'll have been a judge, but nevertheless the philosophy won't change, and that's important to me."

Dismissing Democratic charges of cronyism, Mr Bush said: "I picked the best person I could find. People know we're close."