Posted on 11/14/2004 8:28:01 PM PST by GeneralHavoc
After winning a bruising battle for a fifth term, Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) is struggling to keep the fruits of victory with the same aggressiveness, agility and finely honed survival skills that have marked most of his idiosyncratic 24-year career on Capitol Hill.
He is in line to achieve his long-sought goal of chairing the Senate Judiciary Committee but could be denied the post by fellow Republicans as a result of a furious backlash among conservatives about his post-election comments suggesting the Senate is likely to reject staunchly antiabortion nominees to the Supreme Court.
Many major conservative groups -- including the Family Research Council, Traditional Values Coalition and Concerned Women for America -- have called for Specter's rejection, with some of them bitterly recalling that Specter joined with Democrats in blocking the Supreme Court nomination of Robert H. Bork, a conservative hero, in 1987.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Up the tempo. Specter's on the ropes.
I don't know exactly how this process works but don't these guys basically campaign for these positions?
The Senate Rules protect the power of each individual Senator and are necessary to allow each of them to squeeze an average of $100,000 a month in contributions out of lobbyists.
If "the Rules" are made the scapegoat for Specter's selection as Chairman, the "Rules" are in jeopardy of being radically changed.
Republican voters and the White House would love to change to Rules to prevent small numbers of Democrats from blocking the President's legislation. Lobbyists would love to be freed from extortion by all 100 Senators, instead of just the leaders.
Interest groups could use a crusade to change Rules to rally their members and solicit contributions.
99 Senators will insist on demonstrating that the Rules work just fine to prevent unfit Senators from using them to acquire positions in which they can abuse their power.
SAY NO.... TO ARLEN SPHINCTER!!!
From what I've seen of Specter, he's nothing but a liberal opportunist who should be booted out of the GOP.
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