The American Spectator

Washington Prowler

(Page 3 of 3)

Specter has been under heavy heat from just about everyone lately. White House Counsel Harriet Miers has been pressing Specter to move quickly on the President's renominations of previously filibustered judicial nominees. Meanwhile, Specter has been meeting privately with Democratic leaders. Specter attempted to explain those meetings as negotiations to break the Democratic threats of future filibusters over judicial nominations. But Democrats say the meetings were less about negotiating, than about the liberal Republican chairman briefing Senate leader Harry Reid on the perceived strategies of conservative Republican Judiciary Committee members.

"Specter wants this to go away," says a Republican Senate leadership staffer. "On one side he has the White House and conservatives making his life miserable. On the other, he has Democrats putting pressure on him to give them a greater voice in the process on the committee. He's just up against it."

p> GOING TO THE MATTRESSES br> Much was made of a seeming face-off between Sens. Harry Reid and John Kerry last week during a Democratic Senate caucus meeting. Kerry, according to sources at the luncheon, called out Reid for failing -- in his view -- to move aggressively against President Bush and Senate Republicans. Kerry called on a Reid to set up what amounted to a campaign and opposition research strike force to counter the GOP. Reid shot back that he had already done that -- three months ago. /p>

Press reports portrayed the exchange as the first noticeable conflict between the two men who believe they should be running the Democratic Party. But according to Reid staffers, Kerry has been a pest to the minority leader ever since the man from Massachusetts lost the presidential race.

"He has been sending the boss memos and calling him it seems like all the time. He loves that cell phone," says a Reid staffer of Kerry. "At some point you have to stop showing this guy deference and just get back to work. Kerry wasn't interested in any of this before he started running for president. Now after six months and losing Senator Reid is just going to roll over and let this guy get involved in stuff he has no right to be involved in? No way."

p>Reid is said to have told advisers that he rues the day he agreed to sit down with Kerry and House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi soon after Kerry's election loss. That photo-op, in which Reid was essentially pushed aside by Kerry, created a public impression that Kerry was somehow now moving into legislative and political leadership roles. In fact, the meeting was nothing but a courtesy to a man whom Reid and Pelosi were attempting to buck up. br> /p>

topics:
Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Law, NATO