Broder and Blankley on Harry and Harriet

Yesterday, in Realclearpolitics.com, there was an interesting yin and yang between David Broder (President Pushover), and Tony Blankley (Principled Conservatism).

Broder:

Under other circumstances, President Bush's choice of Judge Samuel Alito for the Supreme Court would have been seen as a bold move by a strong president with a clear policy objective....
But after the fiasco of the Harriet Miers nomination... the Alito nomination inevitably looks like a defensive move, a lunge for the lifeboat by an embattled president to secure what is left of his political base....The president's opponents are emboldened by this performance, and his fellow partisans must increasingly wonder if they can afford to march to his command. (My emphasis).

Blankley:

Last week, the conservative movement had its Rosa Parks moment -- we refused to give up our seat on the bus even for a Republican president....Something important happened last week for conservatism -- and thus for the broader political scene.

The successful opposition to Miss Miers was not a triumph for just some faction of the conservative movement...[it] was the entire conservative movement on the hunt -- at full regimental strength. (My emphasis)

It does seem that the two see things differently.

Broder:

Politically, the president probably had no choice but to reach back for his conservative base in making the Alito nomination. At his current levels of support, he has no place else to go. But the latest Washington Post-ABC News poll contains a clear warning. Self-described conservatives made up only 31 percent of the electorate. Moderates numbered 44 percent. And the moderates were nearly exact opposites of the conservatives in their views toward Bush, disapproving of his job performance by a 38 to 61 percent margin, while conservatives approved 61 to 39.

Blankley:

Today, 34 percent of Americans are self-described conservatives, while only 19 percent are self-described liberals. When one adds only the most conservative third of the remaining 47 percent of self-identified moderates to the self-proclaimed conservatives, one has a voting majority in an American election.

I note that the numbers used are about the same. I note that Broder manages not to mention that the self discribed liberal base is hardly over half the size of the similarly self-discribed conservative base; and I note that Tony Blankley, even using his own numbers, manages not to mention that the "voting majority" he speaks of only comes up to 46 percent. But I note too that there seems to be a difference in attitude:

Broder:

The risks of a Supreme Court showdown fight are at least as great for Bush as for the Democrats.

Blankely:

This was a revolt for excellence. It was a revolt for a faithful scholar of the law. It was a moment of high faith in reason, and in the blessings that will flow from a fair and wise reading of our founding document.

I do get the impression that David has tasted something of the sour, while Tony has tasted something sweet. I'm still just tasting delight.