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1. UNHAPPY CONSERVATIVES. President Bush's political base had wanted a nominee who was a distinguished conservative jurist and could reshape the Supreme Court for a generation. They were disappointed in Harriet Miers' modest public record and angry at Bush for missing an opportunity.
2. A CLUMSY SALES JOB. The early White House message was "Trust me." But no one did. When Bush pointedly noted that she was an evangelical Christian, hoping to settle conservative doubters, all he did was provoke critics to say religion should play no role in judicial appointments.
3. GOOD BUT NOT GREAT. Bush touted Miers as a pioneer, but many observers said her resume didn't distinguish her from thousands of women who had broken barriers in corporate and legal America. Senators who met with her one on one didn't come away "amazed" by her intellect as Bush had promised.
4. THE SENATE QUESTIONNAIRE. Miers' best chance to silence her critics became her biggest fumble. She misstated an element of the 14th Amendment and kept her answers so brief that the Republican chairman of the Judiciary Committee, joined by the top Democrat, declared her response insufficient and told her to answer several questions again.
5. THE PRESIDENT'S POLITICAL POSITION. Miers' nomination came at a bad time. Bush was dealing with low approval ratings and rising disenchantment among fiscal conservatives with the growth in federal spending. He lacked the political clout to pressure restive conservatives within his party to fall into line.