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The Hardball Briefing On MSNBC
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First up - filling the seat.
Even though President Obama hasn't named a replacement for retiring Supreme
Court Justice David Souter, Republicans are gearing up for a fight,
capitalizing on the President's claim that he's looking for "empathy" in his
nominee. We'll talk to two members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen.
Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) about what kind of
Justice the President is looking for and what they think his criteria should
be.
For more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0509/22058.html
And a new group of Republicans, calling themselves the National Council for a
New America, launched a listening tour this weekend in an effort to revive and
possibly redefine their party. Will it work? We'll ask former spokesman for
Mitt Romney, Kevin Madden, and former Rep. Susan Molinari (R-NY) what they
think.
For more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0509/22020.html
Next up - during an appearance on "Meet the Press" this weekend, newly
Democratic Sen. Arlen Specter (New D-PA) insisted, "I did not say I would be a
'loyal Democrat;" but two separate reporters are sticking by their claims that
he did. So, could all of this potentially backfire on Sen. Specter in a 2010
primary? And if so, how much could it cost him if he winds up going
head-to-head with former Pennsylvania Governor and possible Republican
candidate, Tom Ridge (R-PA)? We'll ask radio talk show hosts Michael Smerconish
and E. Steven Collins to give us their takes.
For more:
http://www.politico.com/blogs/scorecard/0509/Ridge_considering_campaign_against_Specter.html
Then we'll talk to the Washington Post's Eugene Robinson and the Politico's
Roger Simon about former Presidential hopeful John Edwards and the
investigation into whether he used campaign as hush money for his former
mistress.
For more:
http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/thegaggle/archive/2009/05/04/the-feds-look-into-john-edwards-campaign-cash.aspx
And tonight, we'll pay tribute to former Republican congressman, Jack Kemp,
whose visions for his party is surely be missed, perhaps now more than ever.
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