The fact that these three may ulimately vote the "right way" after weeks of being wobbily and hestitating does not change the fact their indecision caused this obstruction to drag on in the first place, nor does it change the fact they may vote the "wrong way" in the near future over SCOTUS appointments and so on. Sununu's daddy, for instance, gave us Souter. We're STILL paying for that one.
>> Specter has done fine in his capacity as Judiciary Chair. He may stab the party in the back down the road -- but getting unconditional up-or-down votes for all nominees post-committee is imperative, and he seems to be (reluctantly) with us. Plus, he has made some good arguments on the Senate floor against Reid's insulting compromises, and has noted many of the Dems arguments refute each other. <<
Specter is back to his old Bork/Thomas mode where he gains conservatives trust by "fighting" for our side long enough to gain seniority and power, then stabbing the party in the back over the next battle. I have no doubt he'll "fight" for us too if they're an appointment to repalce Rehnquist with another conservative. Once some pro-abortion judge "retires" though, Snarlin' will come with some excuse like "this nominee is insenstive to civil rights" to BORK any pro-life nominee. Mark my words.
Specter HAD a great conservative primary opponent, but again, the "only RINOs can win" wing of the party ranted and raved that we HAD to vote for Specter or the "Democrats would control the Senate". Even going by their doomsday scenario where Toomey the Senate race to a Dem, the Senate would be in solid GOP hands today and the judiciary committee would be run by a great conservative Republican. Their scare tacits have proven to have NO basis in reality.
>> Murkowski got to her stature due to her APPOINTMENT by her governor father. It's not as if she ran in an open primary, she was the incumbant (albeit unelected). I don't thing GOP party mechanics can be blamed. <<
Murkowski HAD a conservative challenger in the primary but the "only RINOs can win" wing of party shoved her down our throat and INSISTED a less-qualified, less-reliable Republican appointed by daddy was the "only" candidate who could "win" (in Alaska where over 2/3rds of the state is rock-solid Republican for crying out loud?!) As it was she did a horrible job in the debates with Knowles and only squeaked through BECAUSE of the judge issue that she is now waiving on. We'd be MUCH better with an nominee who won his own right and didn't get the job due to daddy's intervention. America is not a monoracy but the RINO wing of the party insisted we rubber stamp the "heir apprent" to the seat.
>> Finally, the "real conservative" Sununu primaried in '02 supported Kerry for president in '04. I'd be curious to know if you were aware of that. <<
Sununu is a lukewarm conservative. The fact Bob Smith endorsed Kerry out of spite does not change the fact that Smith had a more conservative voting record that Palestiaian-sympatherizer Sununu. National Journey said he voted more conservative than Jesse Helms. And the fact the now RINO luvin' NH voted for Kerry (and well as a RAT for governor who was NOT endorsed by Smith!) says more about how they're getting more and more liberal in their voting habits precisely because of Sununu, not Smith. NH has voted further and further leftward ever since Sununu won that primary.
Chuck Hagel also had a MORE CONSERVATIVE primary opponent, but there was absolutely no reason not to select him, since Nebraska is one of the most ultra-Republican states in the coutnry where winning the primary is almost guranteed to result in winning the general election. But again the pro-RINO "wing" of the party promoted Hagel over Nebraska A.G. Don Stenberg. Hopefully that mistake will now be corrected if Sternberg is nominated to take out Ben Nelson, but the damage has already been done with Hagel.
John Warner was NOT the choice of party primary voters, he LOST to a MORE CONSERVATIVE candidate who unforunately died in a plane crash before the general election. Guess who the "powers that be" in the party tapped to replace him? Why, "moderate" John Warner the 2nd place finalist in the primary. Hmmm.
Susan Collins , another one of those "electable" moderates, finished a pathetic THIRD place in the 1994 general election for Governor. Naturally the RINO-luvin' wing of the party tapped her U.S. Senate for her "comeback" and promoted her as the "only woman" in a primary with two male conservative candidates.
Mike DeWine , George Voinvoich's little moderate mini-me, was also touted by the powers that be in heavily Republican Ohio, where Republicans hold about 90% of the statewide offices. Another candidate could have won, but the powers that be cleared the field for DeWine.
Let's face it, we're in this gridlock sitution where the Dems slap the majority party around because the "only RINOs can win" establishment wing of the party backed inferior candidates in Alaska, Ohio, Nebraska, Virgina, and other staunch conservative areas. More conservative candidates that would have represented the Republican rank-and-file better were rejected in favor of wishy-washy RINOs.
No, he most certainly did not. He frequently sided with the enviro-whackos. His endorsement of Kerry was what finally woke people up to the fact he was NOT committed to conservatism.
1-877-762-8762