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Georgetown scuttlebutt5/6/2023 ![]() After graduating from Georgetown and a small California law school, Miranda became an attorney. In the 1980s, he was converted to the GOP by Ronald Reagan’s anticommunism and his own increasingly devout pro-life Catholicism. Miranda was born ten months after the 1959 Cuban revolution-showing, he says with a wry grin, “that different people react to revolutions in different ways.” His anti-Castro family moved first to Spain and then to Queens, New York, where Miranda grew up a Democrat. But the latest round of the judicial wars-and particularly the upcoming showdown over the Supreme Court-have offered this media-savvy ideological warrior a chance to rehabilitate his reputation and to perform that sublime American feat of turning disgrace into fame. Though hailed as a hero by the far right and reviled as a venal crook by Democrats, until recently, Manuel Miranda seemed destined to become a forgotten footnote of Washington political history. He works out of his home because he was fired last year from a senior Senate job amid allegations of theft and treachery that are now the subject of a federal investigation. But Miranda’s almost comical circumstances belie their serious origins. Here was a broad-faced and slightly pudgy 45-year-old in wrinkled slacks and an untucked shirt urging his listeners that “folks at the very top of the need to hear from us,” while his neighbor waited to hear from him about lawn care. I think we need to remind the White House of that promise.” There are two factions in the White House.” After dispensing scuttlebutt involving a struggle between noble ideologues and dreaded “pragmatists,” he issued some talking points: “The global issue is that the president promised a nominee like Scalia or Thomas. “OK, let me tell you what is happening now, based on White House sources. “Cathy, are you on the call? Cathy from Eagle Forum in Texas?” He listened for a moment and then added, “So there is no one on the call who is comfortable with the Gonzales nomination?” Opinions duly solicited, Miranda took the lead with an authoritative tone. “Are there any folks on the call from Texas that know of any support for Gonzales in Texas?” Miranda asked. ![]() Bush to elevate his old friend and perceived abortion softie Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to the bench. These were generally hardcore, pro-life conservatives, people dead-set against allowing George W. ![]() He sat crammed behind a small desk by the window, cordless phone to his ear, leading a conference call of some 50 grassroots Republican activists across the country. On a recent morning in Washington, Manuel Miranda was plotting conservative strategy for the upcoming Supreme Court nomination wars from the cluttered living room of his Capitol Hill townhouse. ![]()
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