In his closing remarks today Senate Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter (R.-Pa.) officially announced his support for Samuel Alito’s confirmation to the Supreme Court.
Specter said the decision was made without regard to party lines and explained that it was only after a thorough search had been made of Alito’s character and abilities to judge impartially that he made the decision. He gave credit to Sen. Patrick Leahy (D.-Vt.) and himself for keeping things balanced during the trial.
"We kept a level playing field for Judge Alito,” Specter said, "and I was frankly a little concerned about the opening statements on both sides…This is not a court of law but I wanted Judge Alito to have a chance to explain where he stood."
Specter said it was Alito's answers that swayed him the most during the hearings.
"It was important to come from him,” he continued. “I think that his answers in a sense went farther than any in the past because he did not say that he would not respond because the case might come before the court. He ultimately refused to give judgments as to how he would vote, but when the issue was raised, he discussed the considerations that would be involved…"
