David Frum's still not convinced -- Harriet was too concerned with spelling errors to spell out any substantive opinions on any subject

By Aussiegirl

David Frum is still not convinced about Harriet Miers, in spite of having his motives maligned by Hugh Hewitt and others. Miers is portrayed here as someone who was so detail oriented that it was hard to move on substantive issues. She also had trouble making decisions -- oops!

David Frum's Diary on National Review Online

"Her critics say the problem goes beyond what Miers does or doesn't know about policy -- and right back to a near-obsession with detail and process.

"'There's a stalemate there,' says one person familiar with the chief of staff's office. 'The process can't move forward because you have to get every conceivable piece of background before you can move onto the next level. People are talking about a focus on process that is so intense it gets in the way of substance.'

"One former White House official familiar with both the counsel's office and Miers is more blunt.

"'She failed in Card's office for two reasons,' the official says. 'First, because she can't make a decision, and second, because she can't delegate, she can't let anything go. And having failed for those two reasons, they move her to be the counsel for the president, which requires exactly those two talents.'"

The Washington Post reports that as staff secretary she was notorious for personally correcting the punctuation in White House memos. This is sadly true - and it is also true that in 14 months of working with her on punctuation, I never heard her say anything substantive about any policy issue...