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  [Arlen] Specter adds more fuel to the fire
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Last EditedArmyDem  Jan 26, 2005 04:03pm
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News DateWednesday, January 26, 2005 06:00:00 AM UTC0:0
DescriptionBy Alexander Bolton

In less than a month, new Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) has already exasperated social conservatives and frightened members of the business community with controversial staff hires, statements and policy positions.

The start of Specter’s tenure as chairman, following a blow-up last year over public comments he made questioning the confirmation of anti-abortion-rights judicial nominees, may augur a rocky future for Specter, whom many conservatives dislike for being too centrist.

But despite their concerns, leading conservatives say they will suspend final judgment on Specter until he is given a chance to manage the confirmation proceedings of President Bush’s court nominees.

Activists on the right are buzzing about two recent controversial hires by Specter: Hannibal Kemerer, a former assistant general counsel with the NAACP, and Carolyn Short, who is married to Joe Torsella, who ran as a Democrat in Pennsylvania for Congress. Specter hired both to serve as counsels on the committee.

Especially irksome to conservatives is a report filed with the Federal Election Commission showing that Short donated $500 to Sen. Hillary Clinton’s (D-N.Y.) 2000 campaign.
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