A reader:
I, and I’m sure many others, certainly appreciate your
keeping the Specter issue open in the corner, but I
must disagree with your conclusion that GOP senators
should “lean” on Specter. Even if they get the
desired results one fact will always remain. Specter
just can’t be trusted. As soon as Specter feels that
he is safe again he will be back at it.
Frankly, the only thing left for the GOP to do (as we
can’t get rid of him for 6 more years) is to remove
Specter from the Judiciary Committee and make sure
that he is in charge of nothing more significant than
a broom closet. In such case, I would suspect that
GOP Senators would not get their offices cleaned for 6
years, but that is an acceptable (and in fact
appropriate) price to be paid. The worst that Specter
can do to us in such case is pull a Jim Jeffords, but
at this point, and particularly with a 5 seat
majority, I think a lot of people would rather have
Specter as an acknowledged adversary.
ME: I don’t of course, see how he could be removed for this. But he can continue to be pressured to make some real right-wing appointments (and to his credit, he is not ignoring conservatives). And he can be reminded of his promises. And the outside pressure can stay on. And we, here at NRO, can report to you as things happen so you’ll know. If the Senate and the White House (and Specter) know people are ticked and watching Specter, I think that can have some kind of impact. But in the end, this reader is right, the problem is Specter. And that’s a problem. But one the GOP has put in power.