http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=3D1178944
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WASHINGTON Oct 3, 2005 =97 President Bush has chosen Harriet Miers, Whi=

House counsel and a loyal member of the president's inner circle, to=20
replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court, a=20
senior administration official said Monday.
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If confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate, Miers, 60, would join=

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as the second woman on the nation's highest=

court.
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Miers, who has never been a judge, was the first woman to serve as=20
president of the Texas State Bar and the Dallas Bar Association.
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Without a judicial record, it's difficult to know whether Miers would=20
dramatically move the court to the right. She would fill the shoes of=20
O'Connor, a swing voter on the court for years who has cast deciding=20
votes on some affirmative action, abortion and death penalty cases.
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Known for thoroughness and her low-profile, Miers is one of the first=20
staff members to arrive at the White House in the morning and among the=

last to leave.
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When Bush named her White House counsel in November 2004, the president=

described Miers as a lawyer with keen judgment and discerning intellect=

"a trusted adviser on whom I have long relied for straightforward=20
advice."
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He also joked of Miers, "When it comes to a cross-examination, she can =
filet better than Mrs. Paul."
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Miers has been leading the White House effort to help Bush choose=20
nominees to the Supreme Court, so getting the nod herself duplicates a =
move that Bush made in 2000 when he tapped the man leading his search=20
committee for a vice presidential running mate ***** Cheney.
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