Posted on 11/15/2004 1:04:53 PM PST by hinterlander
Republican senators who support Sen. Arlen Specter's bid to chair the Judiciary Committee could face retribution from disgruntled conservative and Christian voters, warned Dr. James Dobson in an interview Monday with HUMAN EVENTS.
Dobson, the founder of Focus on the Family Action, a political group he organized to help re-elect President Bush, said Specter is frantically trying to save his spot atop the Judiciary Committee after suggesting Bush shouldn't bother nominating pro-life judges.
Specter has since distanced himself from his November 3 comments, but the protests against him haven't diminished. For the second straight weekend, he appeared on Sunday morning news programs trying to allay fears voiced by activists like Dobson.
"It may not be possible to derail Senator Specter," Dobson conceded to HUMAN EVENTS, "but if they [Republican senators] don't do that, I think it ought to be very clear that when the senator reneges on his promise to do the right thing, it's going to be remembered."
Republican senators on the Judiciary Committee are expected to meet with Specter this week, which will be followed by a secret vote taken in January to elect a chairman. Their offices have been inundated with phone calls protesting Specter's possible promotion.
GOP-imposed term limits are forcing Sen. Orrin Hatch (R.-Utah) to step down as the committee's chairman. Next in line is Sen. Chuck Grassley (R.-Iowa), who would rather lead the Finance Committee than Judiciary, leaving Specter with the most seniority.
"He's been out there for the last week on every show that would invite him," Dobson said of the Pennsylvania senator. "He's been trying to save his chairmanship by bobbing and weaving and telling us that he didn't mean what he said when he said what he meant."
Dobson has used his radio program, which reaches 7 million listeners per week, to rail against Specter's possible ascension. Other conservative and Christian interest groups are protesting as well, including a scheduled demonstration Tuesday at the office of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R.-Tenn.).
"We're certainly going to do everything we can to let people know that Senator Specter not only threatens the court, but he is also the champion of stem-cell research and he is opposed to protection of marriage within the Constitution," Dobson said. "This man is going to be in an extremely powerful position to oppose most of what President Bush was elected to do. That is irritating a large number of people."
Dobson said Specter owes his victory to Bush, who chose to campaign with him instead of his more conservative Republican primary opponent, Rep. Pat Toomey. Specter narrowly beat Toomey by a little more than 17,000 votes in the April primary.
"He was very clear about what his intentions are," Dobson said in reference to Specter's November 3 remarks. "It's not only the court, he stands in opposition to just about everything the President ran on in terms of the moral and social agenda. How arrogant is that?"
Robert B. Bluey is Assistant Editor for HUMAN EVENTS
What is your way of taking care of it?
The jury is still out on that; but Specter has managed to manipulate this to the point where IF he gives them the answers they want, he's in.
You and everyone else.
That very well could be the truest statement on FR in weeks.
We are a moral country on the whole and they just do NOT "get it." Nor can I imagine any way in which they can make their case that they now "get it," can you? I have really been giving this some thought as to how they can now claim to be the party of America, Ma, and apple pie; I can't get there! (Of course, my mind doesn't work like theirs, so I may be missing something!)
Thanks for the reply. I guess I just don't see it as "backing people into a corner". Dobson's approach is exactly my own. After all the work we did to get the GOP majority into power, they owe us. We did our job, now they must do theirs -- it's that simple. From all the years I have spent as a political activist, one thing I know for sure is how these elected officials tend to immediately take their positions for granted as soon as the elections are over, and off they go doing whatever they please. That isn't going to fly this time, and it's about time they were more held to task to do their duty.
One word: agenda.
"in expectation of a particular agenda?"
In this case it's the exact same thing, isn't it?
Very wise words from someone who has fought the good fight. Thanks.
I suggest that everybody on the right side of the aisle get that message real quick - everybody, including Snow, Chafee and the other lukewarm Bush supportin' RINOs.
How about Norm Mineta?
He a civil servant?
How about that CIA director that told Bush finding WMD's was "a slam-dunk?"
Civil service a protection for fools like that?
Give us a GOOD reason Bush shouldn't have purged all the Clinton carryovers - and don't say four years wasn't enough time to find them.
Somewhere, somebody is hitting the abuse button..........LOL.
:-)
I respect Michael Barrone and the Pew Research Center, but that's simply not true. According to the actual exit polling data from 2000 and 2004, members of the so called "Religious Right" --- Christian Conservatives/Evangelicals/Born-Agains --- almost doubled their turnout in 2004 from 2000.
Just for the record.
In 2000, of the ~106 million Americans who voted, 14.84 million identified themselves as part of the Religious Right and 11.87 million voted for GWBush.
In 2004, of the ~118 million American who voted, 27.14 million identified themselves as members of the Religious Right and 21.16 million voted for PresBush.
I'd say the Religious Right was instrumental in reelecting PresBush.
You should have listened to the first hour of Rush today. He explained that given the closeness of the 2000 election and trying the whole "new tone" thing, the president was much too conciliatory to the Dems. He also said now that there has been a decisive victory the president will be more aggressive and pointed to what's going on at CIA as an example of the new aggressiveness.
For whatever else Arlen Specter has done, he deserves defeat, but I think he did us all a favor in defeating the Bork nomination:
Has anyone here read the numerous editorials authored by Bork over the last few years?
His opinions are more than just a little scary.
Not just by evangelicals, Republicans have to get good judges on the courts.
Specter isn't the key if the cloture rule is changed, but OTOH if it isn't he will be.
If Republicans don't get good judges confirmed they're through. That's just a statement of fact.
I am with you on that; it is my understanding that he HAS to provide the White House with proof that Bush will get what he wants, or there are senators waiting to pull the trigger.
As I said, I pretty much think it's a done deal, so there's not too much we can do about it; senators are a weird (creepy) breed -- and I mean ours, too; they believe they are "masters of their universe," if you will) and are always looking out for each other. I was even told that they will welcome Kerry back with open arms, regardless of the lies he has told.
Considering what he said right after the election
That was stunning, wasn't it? Talk about a king!
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