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Thank you for collecting all necessary info for the rest of us. Specter absolutely MUST NOT chair this committee.

A question I asked on another thread--maybe you know about it....

There was a comment made (can't remember by whom or which thread) that the Senators DID NOT follow "tradition" when they selected Frist for Majority Leader. Seems like maybe Nichols would have been the next-in-line "tradition" candidate for MJ. Do you know if this is correct?

If so, then I think we need to remind every Repub Senator (especially on the Committee) about it. As you noted already, according to the Constitution they do not have to pick Specter. And now even according to their previous behavior in selecting Frist, they don't have to follow tradition.

They need to be confronted with this point (if it is correct).

Specter must not get the Chairmanship. We need to emphatically let them know this and keep the calls going.

I'm not entirely sure, but I don't believe the Majority Leader is generally elected on a seniority basis, while the committee chairmanships are usually chosen in that way. It seems to me that 'candidates' for Majority Leader effectively campaign (if you want to call it that) for the position, and seniority has very little to do with their selection.

It's an interesting question, and I'd like to do a little research on that myself. It may even prove helpful with the Specter situation.