Is the conservative opposition to Miers mostly the work of a few whiny Beltway intellectuals? Over at Slate, John Dickerson tries to make that case:

  The debate within the Republican Party over Harriet Miers has quickly devolved into a simple question: Is the nominee qualified because of her religious faith, or unqualified by her lack of intellectual heft? On the one side, James Dobson, Miers' fellow parishioners at Valley View Christian Church, and President Bush speak for her heart. On the other, George Will and William Kristol and others who swooned for John Roberts decry her unimpressive legal mind.
  In this battle, the White House has clearly sided with the churchgoing masses against the Republican Party's own whiny Beltway intellectuals. The Bushies have always mistrusted their own bow-tied secularists, but the rift has never before been so public.

  This is a very provocative picture, but I don't think it's an accurate one. It's true that different factions of the GOP have different concerns, and focus on different questions. It's also true that lots of conservative intellectuals have either objected to the Miers nomination or been noncommittal. But my sense is that such reactions are relatively widespread on the right, including the likes of Rick Santorum, Rush Limbaugh, Gary Bauer, Pat Buchanan, and Phyllis Schlafly. If the members of this group count as "bow-tied secularists," then that's news to me. Dickerson focuses on James Dobson, and presents him as an enthusiastic Miers supporter. But Dobson's half-hour radio show on the Miers nomination Wednesday (summary here) indicates that Dobson is considerably more conflicted than Dickerson suggests.

  Of course, whether this discomfort will amount to anything -- and whether it is justified -- remains to be seen. But I don't think it's accurate to suggest that it's limited to a small group of commentators. Hat tip: Howard.