One interesting item in the Post story mentioned below is that Senator Specter is pushing Carolyn Short for a vacancy on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Short is certainly well-qualified. She is a highly respected trial attorney at Reed-Smith in Philadelphia. Specter’s decision to hire Short as a counsel for the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2005 raised eyebrows nonetheless given her apparently liberal political views. This would make Short a surprising appellate nominee for the Bush Administration.