Patrick Ruffini dismantles conservative criticism of the Harriet Miers nomination for U.S. Supreme Court and, near the end, writes this:

Having been "present at the creation" in the war on terror, not cooped up in isolated Circuit Court chambers or rarefied law school classrooms, a Justice Miers would be unlikely to let Jose Padilla roam the streets, or open up the gates of Gitmo. Folks - that's at least as important as the social issues.

It's important to Bush's "other" base: War on Terror hawks from both parties.

Here is Miers' takedown on the connection between al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein prior to the war in Iraq (as she wrote in an "Ask the White House" web-based Q&A):

Caleb, from California writes: Dear Harriet,With the 911 Commission report stating there was no linkable evidence between Sept. 11th and Iraq, why are the two often grouped together? Shouldn't they be considered two separate fights?

Thanks.

Harriet Miers
Hello, Caleb. I believe you must be referring to some language in the Report that can be misread. Like the Administration, the Commission did not find evidence that, before 9/11, these long-established ties between Iraq and al Qaeda had evolved into a "collaborative operational relationship" for "carrying out attacks against the United States." (chapter 2, § 2.5, page 66) However, the Commission's report catalogs some of the extensive contacts between Iraq and al Qaeda. Here are some: "Bin Ladin was also willing to explore possibilities for cooperation with Iraq." (chapter 2, § 2.4, page 61) Saddam’s regime "tolerated and may have even helped" al Qaeda sponsored groups in northern Iraq including Ansar al-Islam, a group tied to senior al Qaeda associate Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who continues to be responsible for terrorist attacks inside Iraq today. (chapter 2, § 2.4, page 61) "Bin Ladin himself met with a senior Iraqi intelligence officer in Khartoum in late 1994 or early 1995." (chapter 2, § 2.4, page 61) Bin Ladin proposed cooperation to Saddam Hussein’s regime in 1997 but was rebuffed. "In mid-1998, the situation reversed: it was Iraq that reportedly took the initiative" during a time of "intensifying U.S. pressure." (chapter 2, § 2.5, page 66) The Commission report documents a March 1998 visit to Iraq by two al Qaeda members to meet with Iraqi intelligence. It also documents a July 1998 Iraqi delegation that traveled to Afghanistan to meet first with the Taliban and then with Bin Ladin. (chapter 2, § 2.5, page 66) Iraqi officials offered Bin Ladin "a safe haven in Iraq" in 1999. (chapter 2, § 2.5, page 66) The scope of the Commission’s review limits the reporting on post-9/11 events, such as the activities of Zarqawi and his associates in Baghdad. So, no, I don’t think they should be considered separately. They are both part of the War on Terror.

So with legal challenges in the years ahead to the Patriot Act, presidential authority to name terrorists as "enemy combatants," indeed, presidential authority to fight Congressionally-sanctioned wars, Miers would seem to be a solid, anti-terror nominee to the high court.