Sen. Schumer: No Harriet Miers

I knew this day would come sooner rather than later. CNN reports that Senator Chuck Schumer has stated that the Senate does not have anough votes to confirm Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court of the United States.

"If you held the vote today, she would not get a majority either in the Judiciary Committee or the floor," said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-New York. On the 18-member GOP-controlled committee, "there are one or two who said they'd support her as of now."

But the committee's chairman, Republican Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, rejected the notion that Miers' nomination was in trouble. Specter said most senators are waiting for the hearings before making up their minds "There are no votes one way or another," he said.

Miers, a longtime Bush confidante who has never been a judge, was nominated to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. The nomination has troubled some conservatives who say it was a risky choice because Miers was a blank slate on issues such as abortion and gay rights.

Democrats, too, have expressed concerns about whether the current White House counsel could sever her close ties to Bush and rule independently once she were on the bench.

"The hearings will be make or break for Harriet Miers in a way they haven't been for any other nominee," Schumer said on NBC's Meet the Press. "She'll have to do very well there. She has a tough road to hoe."

Harriet Miers is not a moderate and should not have a seat on the highest court in the land. The way things are going right now, she will not be confirmed. If Schumer says she doesn't have the votes, she doesn't have the votes.