[montag813]

This deal was sealed when Bush and Santorum backed the wrong horse. Bush wrote his own epitaph for his would-be Judicial Revolution. I don't hate Specter...he is just being Specter. But Santorum sinned a great sin when he backed Specter--spitting in the face of pro-life Americans. Rick ought to be opposed in the next primary by Toomey.

[Thebaddog]

I have never understood what voodoo Specter has over everyone in the Senate. I've had his number for about five years now. And what is it with Bush's campaigning for him last time?

[Bikers4Bush]

The gutless morons should have hung him out to dry when they had the chance.

Now we'll have to deal with this egotistical little pissants grandstanding.

If he so much as looks sideways at any judicial nominations he should be drummed out.

[jammer]

We got the distinct impression that Specter is going to continue to hire people like this. If conservatives care, they need to mobilize now. Because it's largely out of our hands."

Conservatives cared. They already mobilized. You ignored us. You didn't care. Hope you don't mind if we don't care in the next election.

[Polyxene]

How anyone could think that this lying bag of haggis is anything but a back-stabbing-RINO-liberal is beyond me.

[oldbrowser]

We got the distinct impression that Specter is going to continue to hire people like this.

First the Senate Majority leader doesn't employ the constitutional option from the start, now Specter is going off the reservation. This whole operation is starting to make me nervous.

[Salvation]

Beyond an expected backlash against Specter, there was growing concern among aides to Sen. Rick Santorum, who chose not to support then-Rep. Pat Toomey, a conservative, pro-life challenger to Specter in the Pennsylvania Senate primary last year. Instead, Santorum backed Specter, campaigning and fundraising for him, and then openly backing him for Judiciary chairman when that position was in doubt. Santorum is preparing for a tough re-election campaign, and was counting on strong support among Catholics in-state for votes and across the country for fundraising. But Santorum's decision to put politics before core beliefs may now backfire.

Indeed, Catholics may be very upset with Catholic Santorum. Guess we will have to let him know.

U. S. Senate

[marty60]

Spector is a mean leftie. He intends payback for being given such a hard time about the Chairmanship.

[Alberta's Child]

This all makes sense if you understand exactly how the judicial system in this country has been used over the last few decades.

Many of us are under the illusion that "judicial tyranny" is some kind of problem that needs to be addressed in order to restore the legitimate authority to our duly-elected representatives who have had their authority taken away from them by appointed judges.

The reality is that the judicial branch of government never took any authority away from the legislative branch. Rather, this was effectively an abdication of authority by these legislators -- who realized that the judicial branch of the Federal government could be counted upon to implement certain policies on a national level that no legislator would ever have been able to support.

Here's the irony of the whole thing . . . this system is likely to continue until the system of national party politics is turned upside down -- and the GOP becomes a minority party as a result of a resurgent pro-life Democrat Party.

[aBootes]

Just in case any member/staffer of the Judiciary Committee is reading this, I want to make something perfectly clear:

You are responsible for Specter. If President Bush's nominees are not approved, I fully intend to do everything in my power to see that none (as in NOT ONE)of you returns to the Senate. And if, by some chance, you are re-elected in the next cycle, I intend to continue to monitor your candidacy and to work for your defeat until you are defeated.

I do hope that was clear. This was a golden opportunity that you blew with your misplaced adherence to "senatorial collegiality" instead of the expressed will of your constituents.

[sasafras]

Thanks to all the RINOs for Spector.

[Quix]

Lord, God, Almighty,

You are the only One who can remove Spectre Specter from the public stage and shut his flappin' trap.

Please do so ASAP. . . . perhaps with great fanfare and insult to his destructive positions and philosophy.

In Jesus' Name.

[cynicom]

As a former Santorum voter and contributor, I hope he loses.

[MarkT]

Pre-Toomey, I have suggested that Santorum or McConnell be Majority Leader instead of Frist who is as spineless as Trent Lott - now Post-Toomey, I would not support Santorum for anything (except maybe re-election against a Rendell, etc.) He went for political convenience instead of the principles he heretofore promoted.

[rabidralph]

Hiring anybody named Hannibal gives me the buckwheats, anyway.

[superskunk]

bttt

[k2blader]

Santorum brought this on himself by supporting a liberal over a conseravtive.

I have little sympathy for him.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Rush mention BTTT

[Flux Capacitor]

I'm going to rain on everyone's bash-anyone-who-didn't-support-Toomey parade here (what makes everyone think he wouldn't have backed the incumbent were he in Santorum's position?) and remind y'all -- because most have forgetten, if indeed they ever realized it to begin with -- that at this time last year, as the primaries were gearing up, we were facing a pretty good chance that the Democrats would take over the Senate. Thanks to high-profile retirements and troubled incumbents on the GOP side, Democrats were certainly picking up Illinois, were headed towards picking up Alaska, Colorado (they did), and Oklahoma, as well as retaining Florida, Louisiana, and North Carolina. Daschle still had the edge in South Dakota.

With all this the case, it was not an unreasonable decision to keep a crucial Republican seat by backing its incumbent -- even if he was a RINO bastard -- rather than throwing it into an open race in Ed Rendell-controlled Pennsylvania with a congressman who'd never been elected statewide. I'm sure this was Santorum's reasoning, and otherwise conservatives have had nothing but praise for him.

I detest Arlen Specter. But I don't fault Bush, Rove, or any Pennsylvania primary voter who decided that the greater evil would have been chancing the return of the entire Senate to the Democrats. In politics especially, we all make tough choices at critical junctures, between two bad options.

-Dan

[sady]

I smell a spectre sunday talk show marathon