By: E&P Staff This afternoon's White House press briefing turned into The Adventures of Scotty & Harriet. Numerous reporters pressed Bush spokesman Scott McClellan on statements today by the president, and James Dobson, concerning the possible role of religious beliefs in choosing Harriet Miers for the U.S. Supreme Court --or in supporting that nomination.
Here are the revelant excerpts from the transcript:
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Q Do you think Harriet Miers' religion is being emphasized more by this administration than Chief Justice Roberts' was?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, Harriet Miers is a person of faith. She recognizes, however, that a person's religion or personal views have no role when it comes to making decisions as a judge. A judge should make decisions based on our constitution and our laws. That's the role of a judge. A judge should look at the facts and apply the law. And that's just like Judge Roberts. He recognized that, as well, that someone's ideology or religion has no role to play when it comes to making decisions on our nation's highest court. That's what the American people expect?
Q So if her personal views and ideology have no bearing on the judicial decision what relevance does it play in a conversation between Karl Rove and James Dobson? Why would he bring it up, even?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think you're being very selective in what you're talking about from the conversation, because I know what Karl emphasized in that conversation is her qualifications and her background, and her judicial philosophy.
Q Also that she's a member of a very conservative church.
MR. McCLELLAN: That she is a person of faith. She is someone who attends church on a regular basis. And people want to know who she is. They want to know her qualifications, they want to know her background, they want to know her experience. And that's all part of reaching out to people to gain support for her nomination.
Q But in the context of the conversation between the President's Deputy Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor and the head of a very conservative Christian organization, it sounds like code.
MR. McCLELLAN: John, what Karl emphasized in that conversation is that she is someone that has the qualifications and experience and the judicial philosophy that the American people want to see on our nation's highest court. And that's why the President selected her.
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Q Back to Miers for a moment. When you say that Ms. Miers understands that religion has no role in the business of the Court, at the same time the President has said he knows her heart, her beliefs, her character; he talked today about people wanting to know about her life and, therefore, her religion. How are we not to interpret that her religion was one of the factors in his selection?
MR. McCLELLAN: The President makes selections based on potential nominees' qualifications and experience and judicial temperament. That is what he has done in each and every instance when it comes to appointing people to the bench. He has a long track record of appointing people who have a conservative judicial philosophy, one that is based on interpreting our Constitution and our laws, not making law from the bench. And that's what he bases his decisions on, not someone's religion.
Q So her religion played no role in her making it to the final group and then, ultimately --
MR. McCLELLAN: No, the President makes decisions based on the person's qualifications and experience and judicial temperament.
Q All right. So there was no -- no role at all in the President's decision-making of Harriet Miers' religion?
MR. McCLELLAN: That's part of who she is. That's part of her background. That's what the President was talking about in his remarks in the Oval Office.
Q Why is Karl Rove calling up religious leaders telling them it's okay, she belongs to an ultra evangelical church?
MR. McCLELLAN: We're calling up a lot of people --
Q Why that?
MR. McCLELLAN: -- to reach out to them and talk to them about the President's selection of Harriet Miers. And what he is emphasizing in those conversations, Terry, is that she is someone who is strongly committed to a conservative judicial philosophy.
Q What is somebody's --
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, why wouldn't --
Q Wait, wait, wait. What relevance does how a person prays have to the judicial philosophy?
MR. McCLELLAN: Didn't say that it did.
Q So why are you peddling it?
MR. McCLELLAN: It's part of her background, Terry; it's part of who she is.
Q But you just said it was not relevant to judicial philosophy.
MR. McCLELLAN: People want to know who she is. And when you're getting to know someone, you want to know what their qualifications and experience are, you want to know what their judicial philosophy is, and you want to know who they are. Faith is very important to Harriet Miers. But she recognizes that faith and that her religion and that her personal views don't have a role to play when it comes to making decisions.
Q It seems that what you're doing is trying to calm a revolt on the right concerned that Harriet Miers isn't conservative enough, by saying, it's okay, she is conservative enough, because she goes to this church.
MR. McCLELLAN: No, it seems like the media wants to focus on things other than her qualifications. Maybe your news organization would rather focus on things other than her qualifications and record. The President believes we should focus on her qualifications and her record and her judicial philosophy. And that's what we emphasize.
Q Why is his top aide going around and telling people how she prays?
MR. McCLELLAN: He's simply talking about who she is and what her background is. And you're being very selective in your comments there, because what he emphasized and what Dr. Dobson said he emphasized, was her conservative judicial philosophy. That's what it should be based on.
Q Scott, isn't -- the bleed-over here, though, that Karl was making an argument that her religious faith and her membership in the evangelical church was evidence of what her judicial philosophy -- conservative judicial philosophy would be. He was using it to buttress the question of how she would rule -- am I misunderstanding that?
MR. McCLELLAN: See, David, there's some that have -- no, there's some that have a litmus test for the Supreme Court. The President does not. The President does not ask candidates their views on issues that may be controversial, like abortion. The President looks at them and asks them what their judicial philosophy is; are they someone who is going to strictly interpret our Constitution and our laws, rather than -- and not make law from the bench. The President doesn't believe people should be legislating from the bench. He believes that judges ought to be looking at the law and applying the law.
Q Scott, if that's the case, then, wouldn't Karl's statement to Mr. Dobson have been, "you know, what church she belongs to is completely irrelevant to how she would serve on the Supreme Court; I'm not even going to tell you what church she went to because it doesn't have anything to do with her philosophy." Wouldn't that be the consistent statement?
MR. McCLELLAN: It's part of who she is, David. We're just pointing out facts about who she is. But that's not what we're emphasizing. What we're emphasizing is her judicial philosophy and her experience and her qualifications.
Q So there was no effort, to your mind, that it was not Mr. Rove's desire here to use her church background as evidence of how she may approach cases from the bench?
MR. McCLELLAN: I think I already described what we were talking about in these outreach efforts. If you want to interpret them differently, that's your right to do.
Q I was asking how you were interpreting.
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I just explained it.
Q If personal views don't have a role to play, then why would anybody from the White House talk about what church she goes to and what the beliefs are of the people in the church?
MR. McCLELLAN: It's part of who she is. And faith has played an important part in her life. But she recognizes that religion and personal views and ideology don't have a role to play when you're a judge, but people want to know who she is. And that's been an important part of her life.
Q Scott, was she a member of Texas Right to Life?
MR. McCLELLAN: Not that I'm aware of. I think she attended some events.
Q Well, Dobson said that Karl Rove told him that she was a member of Texas Right to Life.
MR. McCLELLAN: I think she attended some events.
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Q Has Mr. Rove's involvement in any issues in the White House changed at all in the last couple of weeks?
MR. McCLELLAN: No. He continues to perform his duties.
Q Scott, just to go back to Tom's question. Dr. Dobson said that Karl Rove told him that Miers was a member of Texas Right to Live. Did Karl tell Dr. Dobson that?
MR. McCLELLAN: My understanding is that she attended some events. That's what we've said previously. I'll be glad to look into it, but my understanding is that she attended some events, some fundraising events that they had.
Q Well, was that part of the conversation? I mean, did Karl bring that up to Dr. Dobson in the conversation you're talking about?
MR. McCLELLAN: I have no reason to dispute his account that it came up.
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