Mollification or Alienation?

The extreme right faction of the Republican party was upset with Bush's nomination of Harriet Miers. Honestly, she may have been a good candidate but the lack of a paper trail and judicial experience doomed her from the beginning.

But the radical right was offended. They wanted an obviously conservative SCOTUS nominee that they felt they could count on to overturn Roe V Wade.

So Miers bit the dust and in comes Alito, who appears on initial perspective, to be very qualified and well liked. Perhaps not a bad nominee.

But in replacing Miers to mollify the most radical of the republican party, has Bush alienated the more moderate conservatives with his actions? Will they feel that Bush has sold out the interests of the mainstream party by bowing to pressure from the extremists?

The next few months will be telling. I suspect if Bush's approval ratings continue to decline we'll see some republicans in close races distancing themselves from the president and his failed policies.

It's time for damage control all over GOP country.