Fielding a New Position

Time is reporting that President Bush plans to choose Fred Fielding to replace Harriet Miers as White House counsel. Mr. Fielding formerly worked as counsel to President Reagan and as associate White House counsel under President Nixon. He was also a member of the 9/11 Commission.

Time called Bush’s choice “a signal that he could be open to working more closely with congressional Democrats rather than stonewalling.” The proof will be in the pudding -- we expect the president's first judicial nominations of the new Congress any day now. If Time is correct about Mr. Fielding, names like Boyle, Haynes and Myers will have disappeared from the administration's roster of nominees.