The only other option is giving Specter a leadership position on another "very desirable" committee. What that might be I don't know....someone else might can sort out those details
...and as long as Specter could do minimal damage in that desirable position...
..really gets complicated, but it can be done. Maybe some other extra rewards thrown in for him giving up the Jud. committee. Would have to be a lot, so he can save face.
Surely this is workable. He doesn't own the party.
I don’t think your option of providing him a leadership position on another committee would sit any better with him than his remaining simply a member of Judiciary. This man will not be denied what he has wanted for decades, and, should the Republican members of Judiciary do the right thing, he will be inconsolable. We need to prepare for the special kind of vindictiveness that only he can dish out.
He doesn't own the party.
He is not, and has never been, a Republican. Not only doesn't he own the party, but he loathes much of what it stands for.
He is my senator. Years ago, whenever he would cast a particularly pernicious vote, I would write him a scathing letter, telling him my opinion and asking him to justify his cowardice and/or betrayal. At first, I used to receive responses (and they weren’t form letters). But that didn’t last long. The responses ended altogther, and, needless to say, so did my efforts to make him explain his broken promises.
Many years ago, shortly after my last letter to him, I attended a town meeting of his, and introduced myself before asking my question. Believe it or not, I believe he recognized my name – and, unlike his other responses to other people at that meeting (which were condescending and patronizing), he was very careful in his choice of wording, and very respectful in his demeanor. As it turned out, I was the last questioner of the evening, but I had hoped to corner him afterwards (since his answer was, of course, nothing but double-speak), but he did not stay around to talk with his constituents. (I am in no way insinuating that he didn’t wish to talk with me, in particular. Far from it. He avoids talking to his constituents altogether. Prefers talking at them.)
Thanks for the excellent insights.
~ joanie
P.S. I’ve been watching ‘We Were Soldiers’ on TNT tonight as I have been answering the responses on this thread from my laptop. If that movie doesn’t drive home the reasons we need to shield this republic from ‘leadership’ the likes of which is represented by the senior senator from Pennsylvania, I don’t know what does.
Good night, all.
or what if the Senate Leadership agreed to waive the 6-year term limit for Hatch and allowed him to continue as chair?
The only solution is to keep him as a member of the committe, but no chairmanship. How he reacts to that is out of our control.