Specter, Judiciary Panel at Center of Abortion Debate-labeled pro-life activists "extremists,"

CNSNEWS.com ^ | 11/10/04 | Kathleen Rhodes

[kattracks]

(CNSNews.com) - With the chairmanship of the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee at stake, activists from both sides of the abortion debate weighed in Tuesday on the qualifications of Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Arlen Specter.

The growing controversy over Specter's possible ascendancy to the post includes a May 1995 campaign fundraising letter that Specter mailed at a time when he was seeking the 1996 Republican nomination for president.

The letter, which slammed anti-abortion policies and labeled pro-life activists "extremists," was re-published Friday by a conservative website, GrassrootsPA.com, and authenticated Tuesday for CNSNews.com by a former member of the Pennsylvania Republican State Committee.

Ted Meehan, who served on the Pennsylvania Republican State Committee (RSC) in 1995, said his colleagues were dismissive of the Specter fundraising letter at the time.

"Most people laughed and threw it in the trash," Meehan recalled. But while Specter's effort to attract support from pro-abortion rights Republicans failed, Meehan said, a number of RSC members did keep copies of the letter in their files.

In the letter, Specter wrote that he wanted "the Republican Party to stand up for individual freedom and the right to choose." He also expressed a desire to "strip the strident anti-choice language from the 1996 Republican National Platform" and promised that he would "not give up [the Republican] Party to extremists without a fight."

Specter asked recipients of the letter whether they would "stand up to the far-right fringe that demands that legal abortion be banned," and asked whether they would help him "drive our Party back to its traditional conservative principles of limited government, individual freedom and personal liberty."

By "far-right fringe" and "radical extremists," Specter was referring specifically to Paul Weyrich, leader of the Free Congress Foundation; Ralph Reed, then-executive director of the Christian Coalition; Pat Robertson, founder of the Christian Coalition and Pat Buchanan, a conservative television commentator also running for president at the time.

Although the fundraising letter is nine years old, Specter's critics believe the senator still holds the same views and they are fighting to prevent him from chairing the Senate Judiciary Committee that will oversee President Bush's judicial nominations, including any that he might make to the Supreme Court during his second term.

Specter's views on the selection of pro-life judges were on display at a Nov. 3 news conference, a day after the Pennsylvania senator was re-elected. Specter appeared to be warning President Bush against nominating anyone to the Supreme Court who might seek to overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion.

He described Roe v. Wade as "inviolate" and compared its importance to the Brown v. Board of Education case that desegregated public education. He added that "the president should be mindful of these considerations" when sending up nominees.

But a day later, Specter appeared to backtrack, reminding constituents and the media in a press release that he had "supported every one of President Bush's nominees in the Judiciary Committee and on the Senate floor," and insisting the he had "never warned the president about anything."

Cultural conservatives are not convinced.

"It is truly an outrage that a relentlessly pro-abortion senator such as Arlen Specter is being seriously considered to preside over the group of legislators that plays the most decisive role in deciding who will sit on the Supreme Court," American Life League president Judie Brown stated Tuesday.

She also noted that in 2001, "Senator Specter told C-SPAN that he would 'withhold confirmation' from any nominees who refused fidelity to the Roe v. Wade decision."

Roberta Combs, president of the Christian Coalition, told CNSNews.com

Monday that the 1995 fundraising letter "shows [Specter's] true colors," and that "it would be better for [the Republican Party] to appoint someone else" as chairman of the Judiciary Committee with a more conservative record.

While pro-life groups continue to criticize Specter, organizations that support abortion rights are hardly embracing the senator or his qualifications to chair the Senate committee.

Kim Gandy, president of the National Organization for Women (NOW) and one of the most vocal abortion rights advocates, told reporters at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., Tuesday that "Arlen Specter won't be any help to us."

"I'm not optimistic," Gandy added when CNSNews.com pressed her on what a Specter chairmanship might mean. "As far as I know, he's never voted against the most radical, right-wing fringe judges," she said.

At the same news conference, Martha Burk, chair of the National Council of Women's Organizations, reminded reporters that Specter had played a key role in the confirmation of pro-life Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

Specter also managed to score only a 21 in a recent political scorecard issued by NARAL Pro-Choice America.

Among Specter's colleagues in the Senate, there is mixed opinion about his chances of nailing down the chairmanship of the Judiciary Committee.

Human Events magazine reported Monday that a plan among some GOP Senate staff to skip over Specter and instead fight for the choice of Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) has been revived in the wake of Specter's comments the day after election.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a member of the Judiciary Committee called Specter's original remarks "very unnerving," but later reportedly said "[Specter's] statement clarifying his position is reassuring, and I hope we will work our way through this."

Karl Rove, President Bush's top political advisor, was asked Sunday about Specter's original comments after the election and the subsequent clarification. Rove told NBC's "Meet the Press" that "Senator Specter is a man of his word. We'll take him at his word."

A spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, who will ultimately make the decision about who chairs the committee, told CNSNews.com Monday that there was no word yet on Specter's chances.

Efforts to reach a member of Specter's staff for comment were unsuccessful.

[notkerry]

BEGIN YOUR DAY BY EMAILING THIS ARTICLE TO ALL REPUBLICANS ON THE SENATE JUDICARY COMMITEE!

Did Specter Cost Bush Pennsylvania?

NewsMax.com's Fr. Michael Reilly contends that President Bush could have won Pennsylvania if he had backed Sen. Arlen Specter's conservative challenger in the state's primary. Exit polls reveal that President Bush may have miscalculated earlier this year by endorsing pro-abortion Senator Arlen Specter in his primary battle against conservative challenger Pat Toomey.

Immediately following his narrow primary win, Specter was quick to declare his independence from the president and reassert his pro-abortion credentials.
After his Nov. 2 win, Specter added insult to injury, asserting that if he were to become chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, pro-life judges need not apply.

Originally believing that a strong GOP Senate candidate in Pennsylvania could put the state's 21 electoral votes in the Bush column, the president campaigned with Specter and helped him squeak out a win against Toomey. Conventional wisdom had suggested that Toomey would be a weaker candidate in the general election.

But saving Specter didn't impress Pennsylvania Republicans.

In fact, Bush's endorsement of Specter angered pro-life Republicans across the state, and now exit polls suggest that many of them did not show up to vote on Election Day.

While national polls indicate that moral values was the No. 1 priority for 22 percent of all voters, only 18 percent of Pennsylvania voters listed moral values as their top priority.

Since 80 percent of these "moral values" voters nationwide supported the President, their lower turnout in Pennsylvania probably gave Kerry his narrow margin of victory in the Keystone State.

Catholics voted for Bush nationwide 52 percent to 47 percent. The margin was wider in Ohio, 55 percent to 44 percent, and wider still in Florida, 57 percent to 42 percent. In Pennsylvania, however, Catholics were almost evenly split, going for Bush 51 percent to 49 percent.

If Bush allows Sen. Specter to chair the Senate Judiciary Committee, his support among "values voters" nationwide could suffer a similar decline

[Seadog Bytes]

BUMP!

[MinuteGal]

The gutless Republicans in the Senate will give him the chair.

(There's a joke in there, somewhere).

Leni

[xzins]

But a day later, Specter appeared to backtrack, reminding constituents and the media in a press release that he had "supported every one of President Bush's nominees in the Judiciary Committee and on the Senate floor," and insisting the he had "never warned the president about anything."

Specter was able to support the nominees with impunity. He knew they would not get past the Democrat filibusters, so he didn't have to declare.

More telling is Sen Frist's explanation last summer of why he didn't use the nuclear option to approve those nominees of the President. Frist hinted that there were about 5 republican senators he could not count on to force the issue.

If a REAL vote had to be taken, then Frist felt he'd be deserted by about 5. Who were they? He didn't say, but it isn't difficult to guess who a few would be: Snowe, Chaffe, SPECTER....McCain?....???....

[MeekOneGOP]

"Just say NO to Sen. Arlen Specter"

LOL! Good job on that pic! :^D

[MeekOneGOP]

If anyone had any doubt, Arlen Spectre is definitely a RINO.
Check out THIS record:

Senator Arlen Specter (RINO)
Pennsylvania
Republican, Years of Service: 23

ACU Ratings for Senator Specter:
Year 2003	65
Year 2002	50
Lifetime	43

---

Example:

• Abortion Decision Affirmed. S. 3 (Roll Call 48)
  2003-03-12
  This resolution affirmed that the Supreme Court’s 1973 decision legalizing abortion was correct. ACU believes the original decision in Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided. ACU opposed this resolution. It passed 52-46 on 12 March 2003
  ACU opposed this bill.

  This bill was: passed
  The vote was: 52-46
  
  This Senator voted: In Opposition of ACU

[LiberalBassTurds]

Agreed SeaDog. I never liked this guy. Hopefully he'll be shoved to some dusty dark corner where he can do little damage.

[Seadog Bytes]

BUMP!

[Seadog Bytes]

Thanks. It was pretty 'quick and dirty'(function over form), but I'm glad you liked it.

[Seadog Bytes]

...and a pretty cr@ppy National Taxpayers' Union record for a 'Republican', I'd say...

NTU Rates Congress Database

Name: SPECTER A
Party: R
State: Pennsylvania
2003 Grade: C+
2003 Score (in %): 65%
2003 Rank: 48
2002 Grade: C-
2002 Score (in %): 42%
2002 Rank: 47
2001 Grade: C+
2001 Score (in %): 59%
2001 Rank: 49
2000 Grade: C+
2000 Score (in %): 53%
2000 Rank: 53
1999 Grade: D
1999 Score (in %): 38%
1999 Rank: 55
1998 Grade: C-
1998 Score (in %): 44%
1998 Rank: 52

[MeekOneGOP]

Wow. Pretty Really bad alright.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!