Worse than smersh?

Hugh Hewitt argues that it is “a very bad idea to try and topple Senator Specter from what in the ordinary course of events would be his Chairmanship” of the Senate Judiciary committee. To me, the question comes down to whether Specter can be expected to support President Bush’s judicial nominees including pro-life nominees to the Supreme Court. If, as Judiciary Committee chairman, Specter were to oppose a Bush nominee, he would give Senate Democrats the cover needed to successfully filibuster, and thus kill, the nomination.
Hugh points out that Specter so far has supported every judicial nominee that Bush has sent to the Senate. On the other hand, I simply don’t trust Specter (he of the pretentious Scottish “not proven” cop-out vote during the Clinton impeachment trial). But Hugh may be right to say that suspicion and a long memory aren’t grounds enough to warrant an unseemly abandonment of the normal Senate practice for determining succession to committe Chairmanship. Nor is it clear that Republicans are better off alienating Specter (and perhaps his few fellow Republican moderates) at this time Frankly, I still haven’t made up my mind about this one.