There are several elements of the Miers nomination in play this week. The first is the administration's spin to Senators, exampled below, along the lines of "no one knows whether she would vote to overturn" Roe. The second is the backchannel effort by the Administration to convice religious conservatives of exactly the opposite, that Miers will "walk the walk" and overturn Roe. The third is a document that has surfaced from 1989 which indicates to some degree of certainty her viewpoint on a woman's right to choose.

The public strategy is to dummy up and distance. Naturally Miers can't state her true position on abortion without alienating at least one faction.