Saying her religion was OK, Bush says

Liberals were upset, fearing her religious views will color her rulings.
COMBINED DISPATCHES
WASHINGTON -- President Bush said Wednesday that it was appropriate for the White House to invoke Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers' religion in making the case for her to skeptical conservatives, triggering a debate over what role, if any, her evangelical faith should play in the confirmation battle.
Bush said religion was part of Miers' overall background much like her work as a corporate lawyer in Texas and that "our outreach program has been just to explain the facts to people." At the same time, his attorney general went on television and described Miers as "pro-life." But the White House said her religious and personal views would not affect her ability to serve as a neutral justice.
"People ask me why I picked Harriet Miers," Bush said in response to a reporter's question at an Oval Office appearance with Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski. "They want to know Harriet Miers's background. They want to know as much as they possibly can before they form opinions. And part of Harriet Miers' life is her religion."
The issue was stoked by comments by James Dobson, head of the evangelical group Focus on the Family, who recounted on a radio show taped Tuesday and aired Wednesday that deputy White House chief of staff Karl Rove raised religion in a private conversation to assure him of Miers' conservative bona fides. According to Dobson, Rove told him two days before Bush announced the nomination "that Harriet Miers is an evangelical Christian [and] that she is from a very conservative church, which is almost universally pro-life."
Citing Rove, Dobson also revealed that the president chose Miers after other candidates withdrew from contention. White House press secretary Scott McClellan Wednesday confirmed that "a couple" of potential nominees asked not to be considered because of "the ordeal of going through the confirmation process." McClellan declined to identify those who withdrew. Dobson said Rove told him that the president had decided to nominate a woman, which narrowed the list even before the withdrawals.
Liberals fire back
Liberals jumped on the Dobson comments to accuse the White House of imposing a religious litmus test, or of invoking faith as a way of signaling to conservatives that Miers would rule as they wish on such questions as restricting abortion rights.
Meanwhile, the Bush administration pressed the Supreme Court on Wednesday for a ruling that would make it harder for government whistleblowers to win lawsuits claiming retaliation.
Justices seemed conflicted on where to draw the line in protecting the First Amendment speech rights of more than 20 million public employees.
In a lively hourlong session, justices talked about the importance of preserving the privacy of some government work, like the high court's own deliberations. But there were also concerns about concealing governmental misconduct.
"We live in a world where people are leaking things all the time," said Justice Stephen Breyer, adding that he was uncomfortable giving government employees blanket protection for things they say.