manager. In addition, Miers had rarely handled appeals and did not understand the complicated constitutional questions senators asked of her. To White House lawyers, Miers was "less an attorney than a law firm manager and bar association president." In an unprecedented move, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter and ranking Democrat Patrick Leahy also requested that Miers re-do some of her answers to the questionnaire submitted to her by the Committee, noting that her responses were "inadequate", "insufficient", and "insulting" because she failed or refused to adequately answer various questions with acceptable accuracy or with sufficient detail. Miers also was claimed to have privately expressed a belief in the right to privacy to the pro-choice Arlen Specter, only to later deny that she had communicated that position. Her answers also included an error on constitutional law where she mentioned an explicit constitutional right for proportional representation; though many court rulings have found that legislative and other districts of unequal population violate the equal protection clause, the right to proportional districts is not explicitly mentioned in the United States Constitution. Overall, Miers received an unfavorable response in private meetings with senators. Republican senators Lindsey Graham and Sam Brownback then drafted a letter asking the President's office to turn over legal memoranda and briefs Miers had written for Bush, in order to elucidate her views on political matters. Brownback and Graham knew the memos were protected by executive privilege, that the White House was not required to turn them over, and that Miers could refuse to deliver the memos and then ostensibly step down on principle. Miers would later use this request as part of a face-saving exit strategy for stepping down. In her letter withdrawing her nomination, she pointed to the senators' request for confidential documents as potentially damaging the executive branch's independence. On October 19, 2005, Specter and Leahy announced their intent to begin confirmation hearings for Miers on November 7, 2005. Speaking with NBC News' Meet the Press on October 23, 2005, Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said: "...if you were to hold the vote today, she would not get a majority, either in the Judiciary Committee or on the floor." However, speaking on CBS News' Face the Nation the same day, committee chair Specter said that most senators were waiting for the hearings before making up their mind. On October 27, 2005, Miers asked President Bush to withdraw her