But the Rope is Still Handy
Senator Arlen Specter, the new chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, can come out of his office, the lynch mob is gone – for now anyway.
But Specter probably shouldn’t get too comfortable. While they may have lost the battle over the judicial chairman’s post, anti-abortion conservatives have left little doubt about what they expect from Republican members of Congress. Specter and others will need to toe the line.
After battling for days to win the chairmanship, Specter seems to have prevailed. But not until he kissed the ring and genuflected before the powerful new troika in town.
On Monday afternoon, Specter met with Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council (FRC), longtime conservative activist Paul Weyrich, and Richard Land, a pro-life leader from the Southern Baptist Church. Gary Bauer, former president of the FRC and dark prince of the Christian conservative movement was also on hand to keep an eye on things. Falwell and friends could not have been far away. Specter may have won, but not until they extracted their pound of flesh.
In an announcement commenting on the meeting with Specter, The Family Research Council issued a statement saying that Senator Specter said he would support all of President Bush's judicial picks, regardless of their position on abortion. He also indicated that he promised to hold prompt hearings and have committee votes within 30 days of a nomination.
"Specter has promised that he will 'not use a litmus test to deny confirmation to pro-life nominees,' and assured that he will give President Bush's nominees to the Supreme Court 'quick Committee hearings and early Committee votes.' We intend to hold him to these commitments."
Perkins said his group and others would “hold Specter's feet to the fire.”
That’s got to be pretty close to roasting in hell for the independent minded Senator. But hey, that’s what you get when you make a deal with the devil.
And Specter is not the only one that will feel the heat from the fire the Christian conservatives are building
"This is just the beginning," said Troy Newman, president of Operation Rescue. "We worked very hard to put Bush back in office... and now is not the time to derail the president's pro-life nominees."
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