WASHINGTON — The Bush White House is not supposed to work like this.
The nomination of Harriet E. Miers to the Supreme Court has gotten off to a stumbling start that bears little resemblance to the president's first-term performance of pursuing major goals with discipline, focus and a united party behind him.
Nearly three weeks after President Bush chose Miers, her prospects for confirmation are clouded by opposition from conservative activists that is not waning, questions about her qualifications that remain unanswered, and lukewarm support even from strong Bush loyalists in the Senate.
White House officials and their allies had taken comfort from the fact that the loudest criticism of Miers' selection came from conservative activists outside the Capitol -- not from the senators who would vote on the nomination.
But that security blanket began to fray this week as one of her most important Senate allies, Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), publicly rebuked Miers for giving what were called inadequate responses to a questionnaire, and disputed her account of what she told him in a private meeting.
Other Republicans are mostly withholding public judgment until she testifies at confirmation hearings that are scheduled to begin Nov. 7. But privately, some expressed surprise and unease at how poorly prepared the White House was for the skepticism Miers encountered. And they lamented that Bush had failed to find a nominee who would help unite and energize a party demoralized by troubles in Iraq, high gas prices and criticism of Bush's response to Hurricane Katrina.
"What did he do in the middle of all this gloominess?" asked a senior Senate Republican aide who, like others, spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid antagonizing the White House. "He just blotted out the sun."
Some analysts and Republicans say the string of setbacks that have beset the nomination is a testament to how unhinged the White House has become amid legal and political problems, including the criminal investigation into the possible roles of two key administration aides -- Karl Rove and I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby -- in the unmasking of a covert CIA operative.
"You're seeing evidence of a profoundly disorganized and demoralized White House," said Ross Baker, a political scientist at Rutgers University who has also spent time working on the Senate staff. "If you are looking for evidence of a rudderless White House, the slipshod manner in which Harriet Miers' papers were prepared is really Exhibit A."
