President Bush has an opportunity to put a responsible and lasting mark on the U.S. Supreme Court and American jurisprudence that will last long after he has left office.

And that's why it is time for the president to reconsider his nomination of close friend and political confidant Harriet Miers to the court.

Miers is an accomplished person with a strong record of achievement in what was for too long a "man's world" in the Texas legal profession.

But that, plus her loyalty to Bush, is simply not enough to qualify her for a lifetime appointment on the Supreme Court.

Miers has no judicial record, in itself no automatic handicap and indeed a plus in the minds of some who think the judiciary needs the views of those who did not come up "through the ranks."

But the truth is, she has little record at all — either academic or in any other public policy forum — on the issues central to the work of a Supreme Court justice.

This has led to criticism not just from the left, which clearly is unhappy with anyone Bush might choose of conservative credentials, but also from the right, who fear she lacks the judicial stamina and background to represent their interests.

The president made a terrible tactical error when he asserted that he and the country have an obligation to evaluate Miers based on her conservative, evangelical political faith.

This was designed to signal to people that Miers has the "correct" bedrock philosophy on core social issues such as abortion.

We now know, based on records released by the White House, that Miers is on record (in a questionnaire she filled out in a local political race) as being opposed to abortion except when a woman's life is in danger.

That, along with Bush's assertion that Miers' religious beliefs are a legitimate way to evaluate the nominee, gives pro-choice and more liberal senators every reason and right to oppose her nomination.

This sets up an unnecessary and divisive fight. It is time for the president to withdraw Miers' nomination and find another nominee who meets his conservative criteria but also has a legal and scholarly record equal to this most important job.