Me neither. I think Arlen is TRYING to keep a positive outlook, but now I know from him, that he is NOT at all happy with the deal.
YUP.it mitigates HIS power...
I apologize if these ideas have already been put forth today since I'm at work and haven't been able to keep up with the entire thread.
First, I think Arlen Specter is unhappy because he lost a lot of potential power with this deal. It occurred to me a couple of days ago when considering whether or not Arlen would vote for the Constitutional option that he would hold his nose and vote yes to overturn the judicial filibuster because he would then become the most powerful Senator in regard to judicial nominees. He would then set himself up as the knight in shining armor who could single-handedly (by not scheduling votes in committee) for any nominee that he deemed to be too "extreme". Today he is probably imagining the hours of press coverage that he lost portraying himself as the knight in shining armor protection the nation from right wing extremist originalist judges.
As for Frist, I like his attitude today. I was a bit disappointed last night when he rushed to the floor and basically took an "Oh well, what can we do" attitude. I think it was explained to him shortly afterwards that this is a coup led by McCain to basically wrest Majority Leader power on him. (It also occurred to me to wonder whether McCain has made any oral deals with these traitors about voting for his new global warming legislation....it wouldn't suprise me a bit...hmmm....anyone think an quiet offer of McCain/Graham might have been mentioned at some point behind closed doors?) In any case, any emails from FReepers to Senator Frist complementing him on his refusal to endorse this compromise might mention that in effect his primary battle with Senator McCain has officially begun. If he loses this battle he loses a lot of credibility. He needs to challenge the compromise, even if he loses. He needs to reassert the authority of the Majority Leader. I think the current attitude of the 7 traitor RINOs is that Frist wouldn't schedule votes on any "unapproved" nominees. He needs to do just that and get these traitors on record voting to filibuster judges.