Yahoo! News - Pro-Choice Senator Must Back Bush -Senate Leader
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Republican senator who has questioned whether an abortion opponent could win approval to the U.S. Supreme Court must agree to back President Bush's nominees if he is to head the committee acting on those nominations, the Senate's Republican leader said.

Republican Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, in line to become chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has yet to make a persuasive case that he should head the panel, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said on "Fox News Sunday."

"I would expect Chairman Specter ... if it's Chairman Specter ... to have a strong predisposition to supporting that nominee sent over by President Bush," Frist said.

Specter, who supports abortion rights, sparked a conservative furor by saying after the Nov. 2 election that Bush still lacked enough Senate votes to overcome Democratic attempts to block on any nominees who would overturn the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion.

The start of the fight for power within the Republican Party. I never thought that I would be on this side of Arlen Specter. *shudder* Will there be enough moderates within that Party to stop the "Rabid Right?"