Up or Down Vote, my ass. Hypocritical bastards.
Well, I was not surprised by this announcement, and to be honest, in the end, I think the person who will be confirmed is someone in the mold of O'Conner, thankfully. And here's why...
You see, since it was the Republicans who shot down Miers, the Democrats now have the upper-hand in the PR wars. They can now say, and already are, that Miers was shot down because of a the extreme right. This will either force Bush to nominate a moderate next, or if he chooses to nominate a more conservative person, the Democrats have every right to invoke the filibuster. The Republicans might go for the Nuclear option to end the filibuster, but I doubt it--I don't think they have the votes. Thus, starting the nomination process all over again.
So either way Bush will be pressured to nominate someone in the mold of O'Conner if he wants them to be confirmed. Whoever is working the Democrats' PR and political strategy right now rivals Karl Rove. They should take strategic advice from this person more often.
But that is just my theory...What is yours?