Meanwhile, Have a Look at What Good Ol' Uncle Karl is Up To

We get distracted by tragic news of more natural disasters, but Uncle Karl is on point regarding Harriet Miers. Fear not, he's looking out for our best interests:

Q Why is Karl Rove calling up religious leaders telling them it's okay, she belongs to an ultra evangelical church?

MR. McCLELLAN: We're calling up a lot of people --

Q Why that?

MR. McCLELLAN: -- to reach out to them and talk to them about the President's selection of Harriet Miers. And what he is emphasizing in those conversations, Terry, is that she is someone who is strongly committed to a conservative judicial philosophy...

...Q I'll try to ask an earlier question a bit more directly. Did Rove talk to Dobson about Miers' religious beliefs to signal in any way how he thought she would vote on an issue before the Court?

MR. McCLELLAN: He talked to her about a lot of things. And he emphasized what her experience was and what her qualifications are. And he talked about her judicial philosophy, and I think that's what he was emphasizing. He also talked about who she is and what her background is.

Q Okay, but part of the discussion -- you talked earlier about it -- part of the discussions was about her religious beliefs.

MR. McCLELLAN: I've already answered this question. Q Did he -- I haven't heard an answer. Did he bring that up to signal --

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, you have an answer. It may not be one that you like, but you have an answer.

Q I don't feel I have an answer. Can you just say yes or no, did he try to signal -- was he trying to signal how she might vote on any particular --

MR. McCLELLAN: This should be based on someone's qualifications and record and judicial philosophy. That's what the President believes. And I'm not going to get into trying to go through every conversation that people have in our outreach efforts. We have a lot of conversations. We are reaching out to members of the Senate. Harriet Miers has met with a number of Senators already. And the decision that senators make we hope will be based on what the standard has always been, which is, is she qualified to serve on our nation's highest court. She is highly qualified to serve on our nation's highest court, and we encourage people to get to know her better and get to know her record and her qualifications.