The Hill's Alexander Bolton reports that Judiciary Committee Democrats and Republican Chairman Arlen Specter won't be the only Senators to offer up tough lines of questioning to Chief Justice nominee John G. Roberts.

If Specter and DeWine do not partake in a more defensive line of questioning, as most GOP senators are expected to do, it would undermine a tactical rhetorical advantage Republicans maintain on the committee. Republicans control 10 seats on the committee, compared to the Democrats’ eight.

More significantly, the appearance that Specter and DeWine are not already fully committed to Roberts may embolden Democrats to become more aggressive. DeWine’s plans may rankle some Republicans already miffed over his role in the so-called Gang of 14. The group of centrist senators who brokered a deal on judges earlier this year is considered a Senate bellwether on judicial nominations.

[...]

Before the scheduled start of the confirmation hearings, which were originally slated for last week, aides to Republican members of the Judiciary Committee received word from DeWine’s staff that he would join Specter and Democrats on the panel in posing tough questions.

“We’re all going to try to defend [Roberts] on various stuff,” a GOP aide said. “Specter and DeWine have made it clear that they’re going to ask questions that are hostile.”

“He’s going to ask hostile questions about the 11th Amendment,” the aide said. “We expect him to be bad.”

Bolton indicates that most expect DeWine and Specter to eventually vote in favor of the Roberts nomination. That said, these nominations can either be made or broken during the committee hearings (Justice Thomas' nomination didn't become jeopardized until about this point in the process), and if Specter or DeWine come up with anything damning enough -- perhaps a view, on the part of Roberts, that there is no constitutional right to privacy -- Roberts' nomination, or that of whomever President Bush nominates to replace Justice O'Connor, could be placed in moderate danger.