Specter Opposed Confirmation of Elena Kagan, Potential Obama Supreme Court Nominee

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http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/president-obama/specter-opposed-confirmation-of-potential-obama-supreme-court-nominee/

The Plum LineGreg Sargent's blog
Specter Opposed Confirmation Of Potential Obama Supreme Court Nominee


Here’s a sign that Obama and Dems may not be able to count on much help from newly-minted Democrat Arlen Specter in the fight to get his eventual Supreme Court justice confirmed:

Recall that earlier this year, Specter came out strongly against the nomination of Elena Kagan, Obama’s pick for the post of Solicitor General. Kagan is one of several people who’s being talked about as a potential Supreme Court pick for Obama.

Specter raised concerns about Kagan’s positions on the death penalty, her earlier work for Ruth Bader Ginsberg, her claim that Ginsberg is a “moderate,” her views on judicial activism, and other things, according to his written questions for her at the time.

While Specter didn’t ultimately pass judgment on her answers, he rejected her because he maintained she hadn’t answered his questions to his satisfaction, and his line of questioning suggests a hostility to anyone with liberal to moderate legal views.

Indeed, Specter was pretty elusive on why he opposed her, which also suggests that he’d be unreliable at best as an ally in the Supreme Court fight.

So for all the talk we keep hearing about how Specter is putting Dems within reach of the 60 Senate votes they need to break the GOP filibuster, there’s little reason to imagine that he’d be likely to help in this regard on what will prove one of the biggest and most consequential Senate fights of all.