Posted on 11/16/2004 5:53:19 PM PST by Tumbleweed_Connection
U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch predicted on Tuesday that Sen. Arlen Specter would succeed him as Judiciary Committee chairman next year despite some conservative opposition to the Pennsylvania lawmaker's support for abortion rights.
"I'm for Arlen," Hatch of Utah said as he and Specter emerged from a closed-door meeting with fellow committee Republicans. "I believe he will be a great chairman."
Hatch said no committee Republican voiced opposition to Specter during the meeting, called to let Specter make his case for the chairmanship following a recent wave of criticism from anti-abortion groups and activists.
Hatch was asked if he expected Specter to be chairman, and replied, "Yes, I do."
Specter is by far the most moderate Republican on the committee and the only one who supports abortion rights.
The Judiciary Committee screens White House nominations to the federal bench, including the Supreme Court, which helps shape the law on matters from gays rights to abortion.
Hatch said the formal selection of chairman would not be made until after the 109th Congress convenes in January.
Senate Majority Whip Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, also met with Specter on Tuesday and said no decision has been made.
"Tomorrow the dialogue will continue," said Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Tennessee Republican. He said, "Arlen has done a tremendous job in reaching out" to Republican colleagues.
MAKING HEADWAY
Top aides acknowledged that Specter was making headway, having picked up the support in recent days of more than a half dozen Senate Republicans. None have publicly opposed him.
Specter is in line for the chairmanship because of seniority. Hatch must relinquish the post after six years because of Republican term limits for chairmen.
While anti-abortion rights groups have long had concerns about Specter, opposition mounted when Specter soon after the Nov. 2 elections made comments interpreted as a warning to President George W. Bush not to seek Senate confirmation of U.S. Supreme Court nominees who oppose abortion rights.
Specter said he was merely pointing out that nominees would need bipartisan support to clear Democratic procedural hurdles and win Senate confirmation.
Specter, who won a fifth Senate term this month with White House support, has noted that he backed all of Bush's judicial nominees so far and never had a "litmus test" for them.
Specter said: "I don't count any chickens until they are hatched. But with Hatch beside me, I'm a little less unconfident."
Across the street from the Capitol on Tuesday, anti-abortion demonstrators kept up their campaign against Specter.
"We will not go silently into the night," said the Rev. Patrick Mahoney of the Christian Defense Coalition. "We are here and we are making our voices heard loudly and clearly."
The Senate Club. Methinks Hatch is quite effeminate.
You can't..it's the way the Senate works..In the meantime Specter knows his place and he knows he can be replaced...after he has been hammered on so.
Was there candle light and soft music?
I'm sorry to say Bill Frist is my U.S. Senator. For a heart surgeon, he sure doesn't know much about spinal cords.
This is what happens when conservatives let a few rino's get through like Gonzales.
There should be no give on this. Bush has got to realize that he now does have a clear majority and he should "spend his capitol" to further the goals of the conservatives who pushed him across the finish line.
Now is no time to be a moderate!!!
i love challanges .... especially when the cant is used...
"Why is Specter so hell bent on getting this chairmanship in the face of so much opposition?"
He has openly stated that he thinks the Supreme Court needs to stay "balanced."
In other words he wants to be Chairman to make sure it doesn't become a conservative court.
Even worse- the reporter, Thomas Ferraro, let him get away with it.
Reuters' motto: "We try to make AP look balanced!"
I'm too old to not see it coming and the probable outcome.
Specter is right about one thing..dems will obstruct and filibuster.
Clubby is the key. They don't like going against each other.
I'm sick.
POWER! Arlen has been biding his time waiting for this plum assignment for years where he gets to name his price, stick it to conservatives, and be the man who shaped the court for the next 40 yrs. Plus he owes Rendell, PA Democrat party, and the unions for their support in getting him re-elected and the payback is to stop anybody from getting on the S.C. who does not believe the constitution is a living, breathing, changeable document to be molded in the hands of leftist judges.
Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) speaks during a hearing held by the Senate Judiciary Committee (news - web sites) on Capitol Hill in Washington November 16, 2004. Specter, a Republican defender of abortion rights, made progress in his embattled bid to head the committee that reviews judicial nominations, party aides said. (Shaun Heasley/Reuters)
It is 70+ year old testosterone,he cannot do much else with. Methinks he is going to be neutered before Jan 9,2005.
You and me both.
They may ignore me but they're not going to say they didn't know what the will of the people was.
Hatch comes up for election in '06. We have him to thank for the Clinton assault weapons ban.
It was dead in the judiciary committee in '94.
He was chairman and he cut a deal with Schumer and Kennedy and brought it up for a vote in the last two weeks of the session and caught all the pro gun people off guard and it was rushed to the floor and passed.
And GWB, and Santorum. Gotta wonder how Specter has managed to accumulate so much power.
They are driving me farther and farther from this party. That is all I can say.
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