Primrose Path or ...

The Harriet Miers is either a betrayal of conservative ideals or a dagger in the heart of liberalism.

Predictably, firebrands from the left and right have shot off their mouths. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid and New York's most obnoxious senator, Chuck Schumer, declared their approval.

Approval for a Bush nominee? There must be something in the water.

Ann Coulter labeled her a mediocrity. Pat Buchanan says she is unqualified.

I suspect the liberal's instant approval stems from Harriet's gender, and their perception that she will remain a swing vote on the court.

Coulter and Buchanan probably recoil at the possibility of another Bush blunder (shades of David Souter, haunting their thoughts).

This is what I know:

1. Harriet is a born again believer.
2. She has attended an evangelical church in Dallas since the late 1970s.
3. She led a fight to move the ABA's position on abortion to a neutral stance.
4. She was appointed to the Texas Lottery board in 1994 by Governor Bush.
5. Marvin Olasky of World Magazine and James Dobson of Focus on the Family have cautiously endorsed her.

So is this ideological pick?

Did Bush outsmart all of us again?

I don't know, but for the sake of the country I hope he is right.