Thursday, April 30, 2009

Specter: A Parliamentary Whore's Progress


The timing of Specter’s latest political reincarnation was not coincidental. According to his polling data, Specter would have lost Pennsylvania’s Republican primary in 2010, and with it his 29-year career in the Senate. Specter trails primary challenger Pat Toomey by more than 20 percent in recent polls; in 2004, Toomey lost to Specter by just a handful of votes. “I am not prepared to have my 29 year record in the United States Senate decided by the Pennsylvania Republican primary electorate,” Specter announced yesterday….The Specter of Sabotage, Gregory Gethard, Frontpage Magazine, 4/29/2009

Sen. Arlen Specter (Dem., PA) is not full of surprises. As Gregory Bethard’s article makes clear, Specter’s career has been a whore’s progress for forty years, from his days on the Warren Commission through his career as a non-Republican Republican in the U.S. Senate. He has consistently voted on major issues with the Democrat conference going back to his first term during the Reagan Administration. As is obvious from the context of Specter’s political sex change, the real worry the old fool had was that he would lose his senior status in the Senate, and all of the perks and pork that implies.

But let’s be honest. Specter has, in most respects, always been a Democrat. What might be a very useful thing would be for Democrats who have always been closer to Republicans on major issues than to their own conference should follow Specter’s example. The realignment would not, most likely, change the majority status of the Democrats in the Senate, but it would certainly make clear which side everybody is on.

Luther

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