Because he didn't.
No matter who is Chair of the committee, 40 Dems will still block any pro-life nominee.
Removing Specter for saying so will make no difference in the facts.
Yes, but if it reaches the full Senate the debate will be much more open to public scrutiny and therefore to public pressure.
Sadly, there is a lot of nonsense and hyperbole making the rounds on this. Many freepers refuse to listen and learn the facts before jump-starting their mouths. What is most evident is a fundamental lack of understanding of how the Senate works and the institutional norms during and following a presidential honeymoon. If you don't understand what that even means, go pick up a civics book and come back later.
1. Grassley has already said NO, he will not give up the Finance chair for Judiciary. No one in his/her right mind would. Give it a rest, for God's sake.
2. Specter will get the job done for the President. The MSM is already trying to create a wedge between the moderates and the conservatives. Don't be a fool to their games. Specter understands perfectly well that Bush saved his ass. He will play ball. Moreover, Specter provides a tremendous foil for Bush with the media -- if Specter is supporting these Bush nominees, then they cannot be that bad.
3. The Senate committee ratios will change with the expanded majority - Judiciary will go to 11-9 or 10-8 GOP from the current 10-9. Specter's vote may be irrelevant in some cases to favorably reporting judges to the floor.
4. As to the comment earlier that the RATS will continue to filibuster judicial nominees, this is nonsense, and truly reflective of how little understanding there is of how the Senate works, and the ramifications of the Daschle defeat. The RATS no longer have the votes. Our starting number is now 55, not 51. We have the crossover votes to break every filibuster.
The concern over Specter is tremendously overblown. He will pleasantly surprise a lot of conservatives and lead Bush's judidicial appointments to successful confirmations.
And President Bush's re-election is impossible, given the massing of the forces of evil against him, so why even try?
Which is why it is FAR MORE IMPORTANT to convince Frist and the Republican majority to ADOPT A SENATE RULE CHANGE eliminating the filibuster rule for nomination confirmations. As I understand it, such a rule change only requires A SIMPLE MAJORITY VOTE, and cannot itself be filibustered if adopted as the first order of business when the Senate ratifies the rules for the coming session.
Yes, Specter needs to go, but that needs to be a SECONDARY target--not the primary one.