Specter Already Equivocating On Whether He’ll Back Dems’ Agenda
Here’s what Arlen Specter had to say to President Obama about his decision to become a Democrat:
Specter told the president, “I’m a loyal Democrat. I support your agenda.”
Here’s what Specter said about this in his statement:
My change in party affiliation does not mean that I will be a party-line voter any more for the Democrats that I have been for the Republicans. Unlike Senator Jeffords’ switch which changed party control, I will not be an automatic 60th vote for cloture.
One wonders what sort of assurances Dems got from Specter, in exchange for their support for his Dem candidacy, and whether Dems think those assurances are worth all that much.
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I’m wondering the same thing. The Dems should have positioned this as a favor to Specter; instead, it sounds like he thinks he’s the one doing them a favor, and only on his very limited terms. Not really seeing this as a great win for the Dems so far.
The guy has to save face, I mean he just switched his party after 30+ years. I fully expect him to be bratty on small issues and fully supportive of the President’s agenda on big issues.
Haha. I’d give him a few days to come around. He’ll have to disconnect the standard issue zapper connected to the back of his head every time his vote goes too far to the left. Once that operation is done, he’ll vote what his constituents want, which is overwhelmingly Democratic in Pennsylvania.
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The biggest plus I see this as being is the message it sends to Americans that a shift is truly taking place in America. The Democratic party adapts and moves forward while Republicans cling to ideologies that on paper sound great but in reality aren’t realistic.
This man needs some time to sort himself out. It was a tough call; and he needs time to adjust. Like Byrd this man is a player who had a sense of entitlement. Anyway it was tough to leave even a flaky Republican Party such as this one. But he will have to earn Democratic support. Let see what his life experience has taught him: humility???modesty???
I agree with Frank. He’s trying to take moderate republicans with him. That whole statement about not providing the 60th vote(seriously!). I don’t see how he’s going to avoid a serious grass-roots candidate in PA without moderating his stance on EFCA. He needs the unions now (talk about a butt kissing job and a half there!).
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Besides, all he has to do is support cloture and move stuff to an up/down vote in order to advance Obama’s agenda. If it passes, who cares how Specter voted on the bill?
I have to point out that Josh Marshall has just written a post which is considerably more negative than my earlier flowery description of this realignment. http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/
We can have a much more effective Labor department. Yes, a delayed EFCA is not good, but lets focus on getting Labor moving to enforce existing laws. We need Patricia Smith now.