Citizen Journal

His latest:

The leadership of the Senate and of the Senate Judiciary Committee emerged from meeting President Bush shortly after 8 a.m. Names were mentioned, although not by the President.

Several Senators stressed that they had urged the President not to choose a nominee from a federal appeals court but rather someone with "practical" experience.

Specter said he felt "comfortable" that there would be someone "who is a consensus candidate." He said the President and the Senators discussed scheduling in some detail. "I am flexible," said Specter. ".....Our duty is to have a justice in place by the first Monday in October."

Specter seemed angry about "interest groups," saying they "vastly overstate their influence.....What they're doing is counterproductive and a lot of times insulting.....The interest groups did not defeat Judge Bork. It was his judicial philosophy."

Specter said there was "one other topic....The sense to look for somebody as a nominee who does not come out of the circuit courts. I'll attribute this to myself," he said. "It would be good to have some diversity" in terms of the candidate's backround.

What a laugh. Let's be perfectly clear: By definition, unless President Bush allows Democrats to do the nominating, there will be no "consensus candidate." Specter of course knows this, but he's a whipped bitch around Patrick Leahy, who wouldn't know "consensus" it if kicked him in the mouth.