Posted on 11/07/2004 10:43:35 AM PST by TakeChargeBob
In the justified outrage over the pompous comments by Arlen Specter the day after the election, we have overlooked the simple fact of what a wonderful gift we have received. The critical issue is how we can best cash in on that gift. We need to focus on winning the war rather than winning a particular battle.
The objective is to get strong qualified judges who will not legislate from the bench. We must develop the best strategy that achieves the objective.
One tactic that has been strongly advocated in most of the FR comments was to stop Specter from heading the judiciary committee. There are really 2 fundamental ideas that come through in the suggestions. The first idea is that we cannot have someone lead the judiciary committee that will be an obstructionist. In light of his comments and past actions, can Specter be trusted? It is this idea that had me strongly support the stop Specter campaign. The second idea was retribution focusing in on revenge -i.e. look what he did to Bork. In fact, one could cite a whole litany of issues with which to be angry at Specter. While it may feel good, we should not forget one of the main lessons of the most recent election. A campaign of hatred and revenge is doomed to fail. Why give our enemies any ammunition to hurt us with? Consider how this would be reported and would be used against us.
Is the battle against Specter the one that we need? The answer would clearly be yes if Specter would be an obstructionist. Perhaps other than security, the makeup of the court is clearly the most important issue that we must stand up and fight for. There are a number of us that are frustrated by the inaction of the current Senate in standing up for our nominees. While the nuclear option was not possible in the current Senate makeup, we might have tried a 24/7 filibuster. In fairness, this might not have been realistic because of the physical and technical difficulties in having our membership available around the clock versus the requirements of the opposition.
Let’s look ahead to the next Congress and consider the gift that Specter has given us. To realize the gift, imagine if Specter were silent. He would have had the judiciary chairmanship unchallenged. It is true that we might have grumbled or tried unsuccessfully to stop Specter's ascension but it would have fallen short. We would have had no leverage on Specter. The gift is that we now have leverage on Specter. What is that leverage and how can we best utilize it? The post of Chairman has been coveted by Specter for a long time. Note how quick Specter is to backtrack on his comments. In fact, Karl Rove comment’s today has given Specter support. Here is the price that we must extract from Specter.
1. Specter must agree not to stop any nominees from the process and give a quick hearing and an up and down floor vote to all Bush’s nominees. This is just an affirmation of Specter’s comments that he made in the last few days.
2. Specter must agree not to filibuster any nominee.
3. Specter must agree to support the motion to uphold the constitution and have only 50 votes (with VP tiebreaker) to support the President’s nominees to the court and other positions. In other wors support the nuclear option.
The last item is the real gift. Consider the tactic. Specter who would most likely vote against the nuclear option will have that condition held for his chairmanship. We would have turned a No vote into a Yes vote on the most important issue. If Specter’s yes vote is the one that would make the difference, then Specter’s comments will have been a godsend.
One more important thought about the courts. We must also leverage the future ambitions of our Senators to come through on the nuclear option. We must require that Frist put this to a vote in the next Congress and get the Senators on record as to their position. We will make it clear to defeat any Republican that will vote against the nuclear option. (We must position the nuclear option as upholding the constitution.) With 55 Senators, we only need no more than 5 defections to succeed. With Specter in the fold, there would be one less sure defection.
I appreciate any thoughts on how we can best achieve our objective.
But the question remains, how DO we without fail appoint the strict constructionist judges we need? If we miss our chance now, then the battle may be over forever because of how the non-strict ones legislate from the bench, perpetuating the situation. A viable alternate plan could calm this.
Seems like you thought the President has the Senate under control on this. Possibly right, though we have heard that before and trusted before.
If Specter becomes chair and plays any part at all in frustrating a friendly appointment, it will be even harder to get rid of him or get him in line; though it could be done then with an even bigger and more obvious effort.
In any case I think that your concern that this will become "the story" is going to happen, so I hope we can handle the fallout and do everything right to avoid casualities. There is just so much pent-up frustration about past ineffectiveness from Bork on that with this is snowballing--it is amazing to watch this time.
I do not think this will degenerate into other infighting, but I agree that there is a risk of that. Loose lips sink ships, but that's so darn hard to enforce in American Politics.
In any case, if the snowball continues, I hope you are able to "support the troops" and help us to come through victorious even though it is not the approach you would choose.
Jackson told me last week that he was not a constitutional constructionalist, so I doubt that line of argument will convince him.
The fact that there is a concentrated effort to dump Specter and that you are a lone voice against Ron Paul shows how out of step you are with FR style conservatism.
Keep in mind, it's also your own political capital you are using up in the first couple of minutes. If you believe that the White House and Senate will continue to listen to these kinds of approaches you're wrong; they will quickly turn a deaf ear to it.
Poor jmc there is a constant shadow who likes to put his spin on things. I don't particularly put much heed into this comments, but it has been nice talking with you.
A lone voice. Not really. Over the last week I've found out just how many people in the right places consider him a problem to be dealt with. We don't take kindly to those who jeopardize the safety of our troops and call our efforts to defend this nation illegitimate.
Nice talking to you too.
More then likely the lead story will be about an IUD for the Spotted Owl.
Despite my hope for some kind of back door deal, we need to register our opposition to Sen. Spector w/ our GOP senators.
I hope they will require Spector to come up w/ the votes for the nuclear option from the rest of the RINOs. If he can succeed, he will get chair. If not, we table a vote on the judiciary committee, and then set everything up for Sen. Kyl.
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