Pro-Life Campaign Ready to Go to the Mat to Block Specter

Agape Press ^ | 11/17/04 | Jody Brown and Bill Fancher

[truthandlife]

Remember this is not over yet just because it looks like Specter will get it.

We need to continue to put pressure on Senator Frist and the rest of the Republican Senators.

[Joe Brower]

Seniority -- or the core of the Republican Party who help elect them?" says the Christian Defense Coalition's Mahoney. "That's what's at stake here."

Yes, this is it exactly. It simply galls the hell out of me that after so many of us in the grassroots broke our backs, sacrificed income, and worked our fingers to the bone to get the GOP majority elected, they glibly forget about us and our efforts, lean back in their leather armchairs, take our support of their "good ol' boys club" for granted, and attempt to go right back to business as usual.

There's no honor in it, and it tells us things about our so-called "representatives" that are not good.

[MineralMan]

Extreme overuse of keywords alert!

[MineralMan]

This is going to be an interesting test of our GOP legislators, I think. Will they give this guy the job, or will they keep him from it?

I'm not sure which way it will go, but I'm sure there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth either way.

[truthandlife]

Extreme overuse of keywords alert!

I didn't do it.

[alessandrofiaschi]

What a mess

[MineralMan]

"I didn't do it."

I didn't figure that you did. It's so easy for people to add keywords. Someone came in, didn't post, but added a bunch of extraneous keywords to your post. The post is very interesting. Perhaps Admin Moderator will trim the keyword abuse down.

[MineralMan]

And he just did. Thanks!

[MurryMom]

For once, I find myself in the uncomfortable position of agreeing with other posts in this thread. If Sen. Specter can't support the No. 1 issue that Republicans elected him to carry out, he should turn Democrat or resign.

One way Arlen might save his hide is to turn Christian. Even a miraculous epiphany won't be effective if Arlen doesn't select a PC Christian sect, e.g. Methodist or Baptist. Episcopal or Presbyterian probably won't satisfy the single issue voters out to tar and feather him.

[NeoCaveman]

One way Arlen might save his hide is to turn Christian.

Hey. We Repubs have a wonderful senator who is Jewish. His name is Norm Coleman.

It's not about religion well unless you call the postmodern nihilism of the Left a religion.

[Slip18]

He could turn Muslim, also. What the heck! Maybe he could secretly invade the Mosques.

MurryMom, you haven't been around in a long time. Are you okay?

[Vicomte13]

Let's assume for a moment that, for reasons having to do with the political structure of the Senate, the pro-life Republican leaders, which includes President Bush, Vice President Cheney and Senate Majority Leader Frist, see better than we do the need to keep Arlen Specter in the caucus, and so are willing to cut a deal with him that lets him keep the chairmanship with all of it perks, but with the proviso that IF he does not support the President's nominees, or if he is obstructionist, he will be humiliated by being fired from the post by the party.

Now let's assume that Arlen Specter makes a public statement to pro-lifers that makes it crystal clear that he WILL support the President's nominees.

Further, let's suppose that the Republican leadership, from the President on down, understands just how angry and upset the pro-life movement is, understands the sense of betrayal, and really makes the outreach effort...sends important people to meet with pro-life leaders and explain the strategy, and promise that everything will be alright.

Now, let's suppose that the President follows up with Specter by sending his whole raft of appellate court re-nominations to Judiciary early next year, and Specter does his part by getting them through committee.

Finally, let's suppose that the Republican leadership in the Senate is really sincere about using the nuclear option to ensure the judges get onto the Appellate Courts and Supreme Court.

If all of that is what happens, then the pro-life cause is advanced dramatically, and babies end up being saved...which is the whole point, right?

In fact, if all of that happens, putting Specter on there will actually HELP the pro-life cause, because there will not be an immediate rupture in the new Senate, and it will be the anti-life Democrats who have to decide whether to filibuster, instead of moderate Republicans back on their heels and deciding whether or not to bolt the party.

All of this almost certainly IS the Republican strategy.
So let me ask you: if folks like Frist and Cheney, or Karl Rove for that matter, reached out and privately met with the pro-life leaders and explained that this was what was afoot, and this was why we have to swallow Specter, haven't they earned our trust enough for us to trust them this one more time? If they betrayed us, we would know soon enough and would have the right to be even angrier.

But when has President Bush broken his word on anything?

All that needs to happen is that the leaders of the Senate, and the White House, need to reach out to pro-life leaders and really lay it out: Specter will not be permitted to block the judges if he is given the gavel, but he will do damage to the pro-life cause if he is denied it. And the White House and Republican Leadership in Congress is going to move aggressively to be sure that the strict-constructionist pro-life judges get their seats.

What if they did these things, and came personally down into the pro-life community and promised this, and asked us to trust them?
Haven't they earned our trust for one last time?

Of course, if they want pro-lifers to swallow Specter, they DO need to swallow their own pride and come down to the pro-lifers hat in hand and really ask for their indulgence and tolerance on this tactic of allowing Specter. They have to really come down and explain it, and reaffirm their committment, and lay out the overall strategy of which Specter is only a part. They can't be coy about it. They are asking pro-lifers to accept an anti-life Senator in a position where he can block everything.
The leadership has earned a free "trust me" card, but if they need to use it on Specter, they need to expend a lot of face time effort with pro-life leaders to explain why.

Simply doing it on high and shaking hands will demoralize the pro-life base, and many will not turn out next time.
That disaster can be averted, maybe, even if Specter gets the chair. But for Heaven's sake! Bush and Cheney, Frist and Santorum and the rest need to be humbly explaining why pro-lifers have to drink this bitter medicine now, and have to lay out how it will give a better result in the short term. "Trust me" without outreach is not going to work. The pro-life answer of many will be "No, we do not trust Arlen Specter. We would be fools to trust Arlen Specter. We trust you, and if you're asking us to abide Specter, then YOU need to come to us and promise, explicitly, that YOU will hold Specter accountable."

Anything less is not going to fly.

[xsmommy]

hey i heard Plum Boro went for W this time around!!!

[The_Eaglet]

Remember this is not over yet just because it looks like Specter will get it.

We need to continue to put pressure on Senator Frist and the rest of the Republican Senators.

I agree.
Thanks for posting this.

[thegreatbeast]

The fight is over. Specter will chair. Getting one pol to act against another is too much to ask. Let that start happening and anarchy ensues. No one solicited your opinion anyway. Forget about it and go back to sleep.

[cpforlife.org]

Pro-Life PING

Please FreepMail me if you want on or off my Pro-Life Ping List.

[cpforlife.org]

Vicomte13,

You sure are optimistic in your 13! I still have grave doubt.

You have plenty of assumptions and suppositions going there, that collectively IMO are not realistic.

LOL -- As Bush the First said: Not gunna do it. Wouldn't be wise - wouldn't be prudent.

BTW, I understand Arafat's condition is still grave and stable.

[viaveritasvita]

Keep it up folks, loud and clear!

<><

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

If they put Specter in as chairman of that committee, they have betrayed their supporting voters and their mandate. We'll wait and see what happens.

Any Republican Senator who loses nerve on this one and bends over for the pro-abortion genocidal Specter should be targeted for defeat in the next election. We didn't vote for "moral issues" in the polling booths only to have the culture of death policies slipped in through the back door. Get rid of that slimeball secular humanist creep Specter. He's a liberal crossdresser posing as a Republican.