Political Quotes

“over the last several minutes, Harriet Miers has formally requested to withdraw as a nominee to serve as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. I had a conversation with Ms. Miers early this morning, and she told me that it was last evening that she spoke to the President and formally requested her nomination to be withdrawn. She stated clearly to me this morning and in a letter, which I will refer to shortly, that she felt that withdrawal was in the best interest of the United States. She came to this decision on her own, based on what she has experienced and witnessed and with the requests that are currently being made and as she projected forward to the hearings, again, in the best interests of the country. This morning she was gracious and forthcoming, confident, expressed appreciation for all of the work that has been done to date in the Senate and asked me to express that to each of the Senators, asking me to say thank you for their individual courtesy over the past several days and weeks. As one may expect, she was disappointed but confident and upbeat. Earlier this morning, following that, I did talk to the President. It is appropriate, because things are moving so quickly for me, to quote from her letter, again, to use Harriet Miers' own words. As this is addressed by the political pundits and the commentators over the course of today, I think it would be helpful for our colleagues to hear directly what Ms. Miers sent to the President.…”