Posted on 11/10/2004 6:13:49 AM PST by GeneralHavoc
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.
GRASSROOTSPA CALL TO ACTION
STOP SPECTER FROM BLOCKING BUSH'S JUDGES
Contact Senator Frist
202-224-3135
Contact Senator Santorum
202-224-6324
Tell them in no uncertain terms that Specter cannot be made Senate Judiciary Chairman
Do NOT take "no" for an answer!
Bush has no Mandate?
Just say "NO" To Specter's Games!
Senate Judiciary Committee GOP Members
Contact Senator Orrin Hatch
202-224-5251
Contact Senator Charles Grassley
202-224-3744
Contact Senator Jon Kyl
202-224-4521
Contact Senator Mike DeWine
202-224-2315
Contact Senator Jeff Sessions
202-224-4124
Contact Senator Lindsey Graham
202-224-5972
Contact Senator Larry Craig
202-224-2752
Contact Senator Saxby Chambliss
202-224-3521
Contact Senator John Cornyn
202-224-2934
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.