Since declaring himself a Democrat last Tuesday, Specter has defied Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and the White House on virtually everything that’s come down the pike: the budget, mortgage reform, the Al Franken-Norm Coleman race, even President Barack Obama’s appointment of Dawn Johnsen to head the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel.
All while quibbling over whether he said he’d be a “loyal Democrat” — and insisting that he had an “entitlement” to transfer his Senate seniority from one side of the aisle to the other.
The blowback came Tuesday night: On a voice vote, the Senate voted to strip Specter of his 29 years of seniority, effectively transforming him in a blink-and-you-missed-it-moment from one of the most senior senators in the body to a lowly freshman on most committees.
“There were concerns about his actions,” said Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), chairwoman of the Senate Democratic Steering and Outreach Committee, which sets committee assignments.
In a statement released Wednesday afternoon, Specter said that Reid had promised him that he could transfer his seniority to the Democratic Party.
Good news. It was infuriating to hear that Reid had made this promise in the first place.
I know I’m supposed to be excited for the Specter switch, and don’t get me wrong, once Franken is seated, I’m excited to see what the Senate will accomplish, but the ends can’t justify the means, in my book. Specter had reason to spend the time he did in the Republican Party, and oppose the majority of what was coming down the pike since January, and going further back into the past two years of the Senate. If this were a principled stand against a party he felt was leaving him behind, I’d applaud. But no one changes this much in a few short months.
He switched to save his own butt, and deserves to lose his seniority for lack of conviction to anything but his continued career.
I hope his potential primary challenger, Joe Sestak, picks up enough steam to take him out.
Jason,
You have no idea how Democratics work in Pennsylvania. Arlen Specter would never had made this move without Ed Rendell giving a thumbs up to it. Fast Eddie would not give a thumbs up without the unions giving their thumbs up.
I do believe that there will be a rebellion in the PA Democratic party over annointing Specter the nominee; specfically in the west, which hates Philly Dems(like Specter) but tolerates them. But, the Machine is operating in full vigor. You would have to see a complete grouping of fringe groups inside the PA Dems to mount any successful bid against Specter in the primaries.
The street organization the Democrats impliment in Philly is corrupt, autonomous, and deadly effective. Consider:
* The ward leaders, who run the street apparatus on voting days, are in Rendell’s pocket as well as the unions.
* PA Dems tend to be slightly more conservative than in the rest of the Northeast, which means that any challenge funded by the left will die a fast, humiliating death.
* Rendell will raise so much money for Specter that the Philly and Pittsburgh TV markets would be submerged in ads that any challenger would be punchless against.
I would love a bloodbath is the primaries. And if a progressive Black Democrat like Dwight Evans gets in the race, Specter could lose the Philly votes that could swing the primary. I doubt that will happen.