Word: specter
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...seven years in the U.S. Senate, Arlen Specter has earned a reputation as a ferociously independent politician who keeps his own counsel. In 1985 the Pennsylvania Republican stunned liberals and some moderates by unexpectedly voting for the MX missile; then last year he managed to enrage conservatives by opposing aid to the Nicaraguan contras. During the past two weeks, trying to read Specter's mind on the subject of Judge Robert Bork has proved as confounding as ever...
Before the Judiciary Committee began its hearings on Bork's nomination to the Supreme Court, Specter was considered one of three undecided Senators on the 14-member panel. During a tough, often dazzling interrogation of the nominee, he seemed to be leaning away from Bork. But last week, after the Senator grilled pro- and anti-Bork witnesses with equal vigor, the judge's supporters felt Specter was inclining their way. Specter was characteristically cryptic. Although he challenged Bork's shifting positions on civil rights and women's issues, he told conservative Economist Thomas Sowell that the judge's more recent...
...Judiciary Committee prepares to vote on Bork this Thursday -- a deadline it may miss owing to the length of much of the testimony -- Specter is the least predictable of the three fence-sitters. Bork lobbyists conceded last week that Arizona Democrat Dennis DeConcini may be "gone," likely to join six other Democrats considered certain to reject the judge. Forecasters think that Alabama's Howell Heflin will be the only Democrat on the panel to vote for Bork, joining five certain Republican supporters...
...Thus if Specter goes against Bork, the committee will probably vote 8 to 6 to send the nomination to the Senate with an unfavorable recommendation. If Specter comes out in favor of the controversial jurist, the committee will most likely be deadlocked 7 to 7, with no recommended outcome...
Winning ratification may take all of Reagan's persuasive power. But an INF treaty, while no panacea, is the essential building block for any further progress. Future hopes for a move away from the ghastly specter of nuclear war will be riding on the Senate debate...