This happened so fast, it probably gave the poor guy whiplash.
Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), fresh off his latest re-election success, probably wanted to demonstrate once again that, despite his GOP party affiliation in a Dem state, he’s prepared to fight against Bush’s most conservative judicial nominees, especially when it comes to abortion and the Supreme Court.
“When you talk about judges who would change the right of a woman to choose, overturn Roe v. Wade, I think that is unlikely… And I would expect the president to be mindful of the considerations which I mentioned.”
The comment came the same day as Bush’s acceptance speech, from a senator who’s about to assume the chairmanship of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Oops.
The reaction from the GOP’s far-right base was swift and severe. The Family Research Council, one of the religious right’s most active and influential groups, issued a stinging alert to its membership yesterday, insisting that Specter must be denied the Judiciary Committee gavel.
In what has to be the height of arrogance and ingratitude, Senator Arlen Specter, the man set to become the head of the Judiciary Committee, warned President Bush against nominating pro-life judges. This is after President Bush campaigned for Senator Specter over pro-life Pat Toomey and is responsible for Specter’s re-election to the Senate. […]
Senator Frist and the overwhelming majority of pro-life Republican Senators on the Judiciary Committee need to stand up for the President and the American people and oppose the Specter litmus test. Our pro-life President and his colleagues in the Senate MUST NOT ALLOW Senator Specter to determine the makeup of our courts! Senator Specter should not become the next Judiciary Committee chairman.
This wasn’t the only group to issue sweeping condemnations of Specter. Before he knew what was going on, the senator was backpedaling furiously. It may be too late.
In a quickly prepared statement, Specter effectively said his own words from Wednesday were wrong.
“Contrary to press accounts, I did not warn the President about anything and was very respectful of his Constitutional authority on the appointment of federal judges.
“As the record shows, I have supported every one of President Bush’s nominees in the Judiciary Committee and on the Senate floor. I have never and would never apply any litmus test on the abortion issue and, as the record shows, I have voted to confirm Chief Justice Rehnquist, Justice O’Connor, and Justice Kennedy and led the fight to confirm Justice Thomas…. I expect to work well with President Bush in the judicial confirmation process in the years ahead.”
Not good enough, said the GOP’s far-right base.
Concerned Women for America, a conservative group, issued a statement saying Specter had disqualified himself from the chairmanship and stuck by that statement even after Specter issued his clarification. “He’s a desperate man trying to pull himself out of a hole he dug himself into,” said Jan LaRue, the group’s chief counsel.
It may be a little too early to say for certain that Specter just derailed his own chairmanship prospects, but it sounds the right-wingers who are calling the shots behind the scenes have already made up their minds.