Posted on 11/07/2004 8:16:44 PM PST by GeneralHavoc
Several influential conservative Republicans indicated yesterday that Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), who is in line to become chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee next year, has not succeeded in tamping down the furor he created last week when he appeared to warn President Bush not to select Supreme Court nominees who oppose abortion rights.
Senator-elect John Thune (R-S.D.), who defeated Senate Minority Leader Thomas A. Daschle (D) in a race that turned in part on stalled judicial nominations, said newly elected members of the GOP's 55-member majority will raise questions with Senate leaders this week about Specter's elevation.
Thune said he was "troubled" by Specter's statements and vowed "there will be some questions asked by those of us who are coming in as freshmen who ran our campaigns built around that very central theme that we need to have good judges on the bench." Thune made the comments in an interview on ABC's "This Week."
Specter's comments were also derided by House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) and, most forcefully, by James Dobson, who has been credited with helping to mobilize the vote for Bush as head of the Christian group Focus on the Family.
Specter "is a problem, and he must be derailed," Dobson said on "This Week." Senate offices were swamped with calls about Specter late last week, and the uproar is "not going to go away," Dobson said. "Republican senators know they've got a problem."
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
GRASSROOTSPA CALL TO ACTION
STOP SPECTER FROM BLOCKING BUSH'S JUDGES
Contact Senator Frist
202-224-3135
Contact Senator Santorum
202-224-6324
Tell them in no uncertain terms that Specter cannot be made Senate Judiciary Chairman
Do NOT take "no" for an answer!
Bush has no Mandate?
Just say "NO" To Specter's Games!
Senate Judiciary Committee GOP Members
Contact Senator Orrin Hatch
202-224-5251
Contact Senator Charles Grassley
202-224-3744
Contact Senator Jon Kyl
202-224-4521
Contact Senator Mike DeWine
202-224-2315
Contact Senator Jeff Sessions
202-224-4124
Contact Senator Lindsey Graham
-202-224-5972
Contact Senator Larry Craig
202-224-2752
Contact Senator Saxby Chambliss
202-224-3521
Contact Senator John Cornyn
202-224-2934
Pretty bold words from the freshman senator, there.
Yeah, Thune is one heck of a guy.
Just imagine what Coburn is going to say!!!!
Methinks Senator Thune is going to be particularly good value!
This one won't go away. Karl Rove created this monster, and now he's going to have to deal with it, one way or another.
Looks like Thune seeks to right some of the wrongs created by the toon he defeated.
Hat's off to him. I love it.
blessings, bobo
Last I looked they had several one from Rhode Island, one from Nebraska, one in Arizona, one in Maine.... wheres Lugar from these days??
Our new Senate guys don't know Specter and owe him diddly. Well done Mr Thune. Arlen Specter's time has passed. Send him to the back benches
not a man between the bunch
It's means one of two things. 1- It's a done deal and Spector is out, and Thune knows it. Or 2- Thune's an idiot digging a hole for himself before he gets there.
Given that Thune just ran a tough campaign and won, I'm betting on 1.
Someone should also be asking him to apologize for insulting the current members of the Court -- that's been lost in the shuffle.
Temperment is the key, and Sen. Specter has shown in multiple settings after Nov 2 that he does not have the needed temperment to act credibly as Chairman.
Despite his wedgie-induced pledge to move on the President's
nominees, he's a weasel who'll find ways to wiggle out of his word.
I believe there will be 1 or 2 additional seats on the committee with the expansion of the majority. Coburn and DeMint should be put there to deal with Specter.
TOLL FREE # TO THE CAPITOL: 877-762-8762
<><
Rove can't be faulted for much in this election. But propping up that disloyal, arrogant snot Specter in the Pennsylvania Republican primary was a big mistake.
"John Kerry cannot be trusted"
Neither can Arlen Specter. He must be denied. I have no stake in seeing the ego of a flakey 74 year old Senator being catered to. Isn't this what it's all about?
My letter to Sen. Frist:
START
Senator Frist,
I, along with many other Republicans, worked VERY hard to help re-elect Pres. Bush. The additional Senate seats should also indicate the depth of disgust we all feel with the Democrats ideologies. DO NOT BETRAY us by allowing Senator Spector to become head of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Take a stand. We have.
Respectfully yours,
END
Who knows which option it is.
Thune is a hero to millions of conservatives, though, for defeating Daschle. Those same conservatives have wanted a strong concise voice to fight for them in the Senate. Seems the longer one is in the process, the more they become relunctant to defy its "traditions". In this sense, new conservative freshman Senators untainted by the process can be a blessing.
But they still have to work with the oldtimers, and alientating them completely would be detrimental to the goal. It's a fine line they are expected to walk. The ideal would be an established well respected conservative voice leading the group, but none of yet stood up to accept that role.
Frist, imo, is best positioned to lead that charge if desirous. If rumor holds he doesn't want to run in '06 for Senate, he has less to lose. And if he wants to run for Prez, he'd have to establish some solid credentials to win support.
Jury is still out on Frist. I've given him some slack given the Liberal obstruction on both sides of the aisle, but I think..we now have a conservative majority even excluding Collins, Snowe, Chaffe, and Spectre. McCain is always a question mark, but Cheney is the 51st Senator. ;-) provided calculations are not off, I think we finally have the ability to play hard ball.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.