And we all know how hard Specter worked to get out the Bush vote in PA.
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
Unlike you, of course...
I'm glad you recognize that point.
I think the uprising against Specter, who has a long history of hostility to the core values of our Party, is on its way to dwarfing anything Washington has ever seen.
Oh, good grief; it is not.
I would imagine it's a done deal and has been for over a week; they're just walking the walk.
It's going to be Specter.
And we all know how hard Specter worked to get out the Bush vote in PA.
Isn't that the truth.
Specter certainly bite the hand that tried to feed him.
(BTW, where did those signs come from?)
Consider the source of that whining, and remember that they are as marginal in our Party as Specter is.
Pro-abortion 'Republicans' have their meetings in a phone booth.
The vast bulk of the GOP rank and file across the land share our outrage at the thought of Specter at the helm of Judiciary at such a critical time as this.
Judicial nominations are the big prize, the prize that millions of conservatives have given time, energy and treasure for years to procure.
Mark those who stand in the way well.
> Russell D. Feingold WISCONSIN
(*grump*) There's not much point in writing Feingold again; he always answers with a letter saying, in essence, "Thanks for writing! I'm sure you'll be glad to hear that I'm [going to do exactly the opposite of what you want]!"
Specter's former campaign manager.
Nothing new about it - the "evangelicals don't matter" BS has been relegated to history's dustbin, but some people will never get it.
Go Dr. Dobson! Keeping speaking the truth.
But, of course...
How's tricks, EV?
It's the manner in which Dobson lays it out there - the threat - much more so than the message. You attack best when you merely tell the truth. Just ask the Swifties.
No threats needs be delivered - especially in reference to reneging on promisies that don't appear to have ever been made.
The pic came from the Philly Inquirer. I'm not entirely sure who was behind the signs... I think it was Specter's former campaign manager working on his behalf (with a degree of separation for plausible deniability purposes, possibly).
Right On! As if we didn't mention to GW to purge those Bubba appointees. He didn't & they took him for a ride. (Although we mention Gw as the final arbitrator in Wash thatis not true. He answers to the elites just as ALL of them do or otherwise they would not get the position)
The good Doctor simply stated the facts about what the outcome would be of a sellout of the pro-life community.
He's one of the most humble of men, and doesn't make threats.
Snore.
No, they did not.
And this is NOT news; we've known for a long time it was going to be Specter.
That is my understanding of where the signs came from as well.
I certainly hope you don't mean those of us on this thread who disagree with Dobson threatening the senators when you say that.
I was just hoping he wasn't dumb enough to give them out in HIS offices.....LOL.
But who knows with this guy; political tact doesn't seem to be his forte.
I was referring to pro-aborts like Specter. Did it sound to you like I was talking to you?
And you aren't telling the truth when you say that Dobson 'threatened' anybody.
He simply stated the facts.
You cannot PURGE civil servants.
It's my experience that people actually making threats never will cop to them; it's completely disengenuous.
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