Condi Is Old Pal of Miers

It's been widely reported that Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers is a longtime close friend of the man who nominated her, President George Bush.

What's less known is that she's also close to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice - who likely played a role in her selection.

In fact, in the past five years Miers and Rice have often enjoyed a "girls' night out" along with Ann Veneman, the former agriculture secretary who's now the executive director of Unicef.
The three got together last month at the Bull and Bear steakhouse at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in Manhattan.

They've met at the restaurants Olives and Galileo in Washington, listened to concerts together from the president's box at the Kennedy Center, and even sat down to a home-cooked meal at Veneman's house.

Last year, Miers was a guest at a surprise birthday party for Rice at the British Embassy in Washington.

Miers and Rice share an "intense devotion" to President Bush, according to the New York Times, which quoted a friend of the two women as saying it was "reasonable to speculate" that Rice played a role in Miers' selection.

As to what the women discuss on their "girls' night out," a friend said: "There's a lot of girl talk. It's about life, not business."