Rich Lowry of National Review looks at the President's poll numbers and sees Harriet Miers as a "wedge issue", dividing conservatives. Not quite.
For Miers to be a "wedge issue" the fight would have to be of a sufficient nature to move conservatives out of the coalition. Since there is not a matter of principle dividing conservatives, but merely a question of tactics, where is the faction that no longer feels welcome within the coalition?
The coalition is intact (relatively speaking), even though some within the coalition now find themselves in opposition to the President on a core issue. It's not where those opposed to the Miers nomination wanted to be, but it's where the President put them. If the hearings don't go well, we may just learn how many conservatives are outside the President's coalition.
