WASHINGTON -- Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada praised Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers on Monday but downplayed reports he had recommended her to the Bush administration as an acceptable pick.

At public events over the past few weeks Reid had spoken approvingly of Miers, the White House counsel who was a contact for him during the Senate's consideration of newly confirmed Chief Justice John Roberts.

The Associated Press reported Reid had personally recommended that Bush consider Miers for nomination, citing several sources familiar with the president's consultations with individual senators.

Reid did not deny Miers was on a list of acceptable nominees he suggested to the White House. But he said the notion he recommended Miers was "maybe exaggerating a little."

"I certainly have spoken to people in the administration about Harriet Miers," he said. "I've worked with her. I haven't known her a real long time, but I have found her very personable, very genuine -- someone who answers phone calls immediately."

Reid appeared alongside Miers at a news conference outside his Capitol office.

Reid said he would not decide how he would vote on Miers' nomination until the Senate Judiciary Committee completes her confirmation hearings.

Some Republicans seized on Reid's comments about Miers to suggest she might not face a difficult confirmation.

"I believe Harry Reid said she would be a good choice," said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas.

Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond who once taught at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said Reid seems to favor Miers' nomination at this point.

"I think what is interesting about this choice is that she has not served as a judge, and it's been a long time since that happened (for a Supreme Court nominee)," Tobias said.

Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., offered a more restrained reaction than Reid. "I don't think anybody knows enough about her to know whether to support or not to support her nomination," Ensign said.

But Ensign said the fact that Miers is a woman is "an extra bonus" because she would make the Supreme Court "more representative of society."

Reid said the Judiciary Committee would delve into the details of Miers, her beliefs and her career.

"I just understand the broad outline of this woman, and the broad outline looks really good to me," he said.

Reid said it is a plus for Miers that she is not a judge. He noted she was a trial lawyer -- like he was.

"Anyone with that background makes me feel good," he said.

Miers also picked up points for having earned a law degree at Southern Methodist University in Texas, and not an elite Eastern school.

"I have to say without any qualification I'm very happy we have someone like her," he said, pausing and choosing his words carefully. "The situation is I think the courts have been such that ... I don't want to denigrate in any way Ivy League schools but I think that should not be a requirement to be a clerk or a judge."

In addition, Reid said, "It goes without saying that I'm very happy that the president chose a woman."