The American Spectator

p> CONSERVATIVE ASSIGNMENTS br> So maybe there was something to Senate Republican Leader Bill Frist ‘s velvet hammer treatment of expected Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter . The leader was calm and cool and terribly trusting in allowing Specter to win the chairmanship. After pulling together committee assignments it’s easy to see why Frist was so willing to hand over the reins to the liberal from Pennsylvania. /p>

Circulating around Capitol Hill the last couple of days are the draft committee assignments for the GOP. Those slots, based on seniority and requests by the Senators, don’t become official until after January 5th, when the Republican Caucus elects chairmen to the committees.

If Frist has his way, Sen. Sam Brownback and Dr. Tom Coburn will be making Chairman Specter’s life miserable for the foreseeable future, a not wholly unappealing prospect for conservatives.

Brownback’s placement on Judiciary presents him with an opportunity to further burnish his social conservative bona fides, as he ramps up what is expected to be a toe-dipping into presidential politics in 2008. The conservative, Roman Catholic convert from Kansas joins one of the most conservative committees around, with Cornyn, Kyl, Sessions, Coburn, and Graham sitting with him.

p> SENATOR SAM br> Sam Brownback