Poetic Justice: Specter loses Seniority on Senate Committees

Discussion in 'Politics' started by Tom B, May 6, 2009.

  1. You seemed to indicate above that It was too late for you...how was I to know the exactly periodicity? I thought maybe you were gone already. And it was your ghost speaking from the grave wishing a Cancer patients ill.

    Never can tell about you people.

     
    #21     May 6, 2009
  2. Tom B

    Tom B

    Maybe Arlen can switch back?

    Meltdown: Specter stands alone
    Glenn Thrush, Manu Raju Glenn Thrush, Manu Raju


    Arlen Specter infuriated Senate Republicans when he bolted from their party last week. Now he’s alienated just about everybody in the Senate Democratic caucus, too.

    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. Read more...

    http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20090506/pl_politico/22180/print
     
    #22     May 6, 2009
  3. Humiliating blow to Specter. I wonder if he would have even switched if he had known he would lose all his seniority? He'll probably lose in the primary anyway.
     
    #23     May 6, 2009
  4. dsq

    dsq

    specter is suffering from dementia...he self emasculated...how can you have the cohones to say you will switch parties cause you dont have a chance with your own then tell your new party you have no loyalty to them...then he says he is entitled to have seniority in the new party...takes nerve and arrogance and delusion...Why didnt he just retire or announce it.At least he would have finished off his career with dignity.Now he looks like a complete fool.
    Self implosion.
     
    #24     May 6, 2009
  5. Tom B

    Tom B

    Specter has really made a mess of things.

    White House Cheat Sheet: Sifting Through the Specter Damage

    The Fix: Political News & Analysis by Chris Cilliza

    A series of odd incidents that have proceeded from Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter's party switch last week have raised questions about whether the newest Democrat has permanently damaged himself in the eyes of the state's voters.

    The White House is concerned enough about the developments that deputy chief of staff Jim Messina and Ron Klain, a senior adviser to Vice President Biden, traveled to Capitol Hill on Wednesday and huddled with Specter to try to iron out the problems, according to informed Democratic officials.

    Those problems -- in brief:

    • Specter pronounced that he would be keeping his seniority when he announced his party switch last week -- maintaining that his ability to deliver for the state would not be diminished in any way shape or form by his move across the aisle. Except, that wasn't exactly right. The Senate's approval of Specter's junior status on a series of committees led to a "he said, he said" between Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) and the newest member of his caucus. Asked about the back and forth by CNN's Wolf Blitzer on Wednesday, Reid stood his ground saying simply: "He is a person who's been in the Senate since 1980. I think he should be able to handle himself."

    • In a sitdown with the New York Times' Deborah Solomon, Specter said he was hoping that the Minnesota courts would do "justice" and declare former Republican Sen. Norm Coleman the winner in the contested 2008 election. Whoops! Specter tried to walk the comment back told Reid that he briefly "forgot what team I was on."

    • Specter has done little to back off his initial assertion that his decision to switch parties was based almost entirely on political calculations and had little to do with ideology. While most party switchers are almost certainly guided by personal political concerns (what politician isn't?), most don't come right out and say it because it is a turnoff for voters who want to believe that their politicians believe in, well, something.

    For Pennsylvania voters -- especially Democratic primary voters -- this triptych of recent events is likely to be deeply troubling.

    "His actions over this past week have done nothing to curry favors with either party," said Penny Lee, a former senior adviser to Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D) and now a Democratic consultant. "He needs to show some willingness to be a Democrat."

    Another Democratic strategist who follows Senate races closely was more blunt about the damage Specter has done to himself over the last week. "Do you think that any right-minded local Democratic elected official is going to stick his neck out for Arlen?" the source asked rhetorically. "Or any member of the Democratic Senate caucus?"

    Even those Democrats who believe that Specter has done himself no real long-term electoral harm with his actions over the past week don't exactly give him rave reviews. "The pride swallowing can't be easy but he had no choice if he wants to get reelected, and he was honest about that," said one senior Democratic strategist.

    Despite all of that criticism, Specter still has a number of things going for him heading into next year -- most importantly the support of an exceedingly popular president who commands massive loyalty particularly among the Democratic base and a campaign war chest bulging with nearly $7 million.

    And, average voters are not likely to be following every jot and tittle of the Specter saga -- especially so far from an election. Still, insiders are paying very close attention and, if Specter's stumbles over the past week encourage Rep. Joe Sestak to run in the primary, then the damage will have been done.

    What once looked like a huge coup for the White House -- and from a governing standpoint remains one assuming Al Franken eventually wins in Minnesota -- has quickly morphed into a gigantic political headache that almost no one saw coming.

    Politics is great, ain't it?

    http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/cheat-sheet/050709white-house-cheat-sheet.html
     
    #25     May 7, 2009