We got excited by Arlen Specter's rebranding himself as a Democrat because it had the ring of the magic number 60. It may help a little on a few close bills, but I'm not sure it's a game-changer.
First, from watching him for several years, Specter has a habit of turning into a weasel. More than once, when he was Chair of Judiciary he would put out a statement that sounded like he was going to do something principled (meaning against the bush administration); then he would have a White House meeting and reverse himself.
Now, amid the hoopla of welcoming him, he has already voted against Obama's budget and signaled his opposition to the bill on union membership and the expected health care strategy. And then he made the gaffe of saying the Minnesota courts should decide in favor of Coleman -- which even many conservative Republicans concede is a lost cause. Later he said he "misspoke." Others have tried to dismiss it as a joke.
Don't trust him. I think James Carville has it right. Either he really joins up with the Democrats and supports their big initiatives, or he can expect a strong opponent in next years' Democratic primary. He's not going to just waltz in in a cakewalk if he only changed his label and has not really becoming a Democrat.
Otherwise, let PA elect a true Democrat. Polls suggest that the most likely candidate would trounce the expected Republican candidate.
Ralph
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By a vote, Specter was stipped of his seniority positions on committees, so that now he is the most junior Democrat on them. That's appropriate, even thought Harry Reid had reportedly assured him he would retain seniority. He now says he also said that it would be up to the caucus to decide.
ReplyDeleteSpecter needs to earn his place as a Democrat and prove his value to the party. Everyone is starry-eyed about the 60th vote on cloture, but there's no assurance that he would vote any differently than he would have as a Republican.
Seems the Democrats have leverage over him: his nomination as the Democratic candidate in 2010 is not assured. Let him face opposition in the primary and let the voters decide.