No, the Nov. 2 election morphed what normally would have been a stately changing of the guard into a public pillorying of Specter by the religious right.

The very qualities of tough-mindedness and independence that should make Specter an excellent chairman also made him an immediate target of suspicion when the moderate Republican from Pennsylvania warned after the election that anti-abortion judges would have difficulty gaining Senate confirmation over Democratic opposition.

Specter's comment - a simple statement of political reality - caused red-state conservatives and anti-abortion groups to see blue. They demanded that Senate Republicans reject Specter now, before they formally vote on the chairmanship in January. Specter, who supports abortion rights and stem-cell research, was suddenly in the political fight of his life.

Forced to defend himself to Senate Republican leaders on Tuesday (while anti-abortion activists staged an anti-Specter "pray-in" outside the Capitol), Specter assured them he would impose no litmus test on judicial nominees on the issue of abortion. They, in turn, demanded that he put that, and more, in writing.

Specter's gun-to-the-head statement, issued Thursday after vetting by Republican Senate leaders and committee members, said he had assured President Bush he would give the president's nominees "quick committee hearings and early committee votes," fight any Democratic filibusters and refrain from blocking in committee any legislation or constitutional amendment he personally opposed.

This forced act of obeisance earned Specter the support, at least for now, of all nine Republicans on the committee, and gave them and the Senate leadership sufficient political cover to advance Specter to the formal committee vote in January.

To his credit, Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, the outgoing committee chairman, stood staunchly behind Specter on the critical Tuesday. It is not important, he said, if Specter's views are not in complete agreement with his own or those of other committee members. We agree.

Given the likelihood of Supreme Court vacancies during President Bush's second term, it is not difficult to imagine Arlen Specter as committee chairman drawing fire from both sides of the aisle.

We think that makes him, in the take-no-prisoners partisanship of these days, eminently qualified for the job.