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TechnoratiA Liberal Democrat Returns to the Fold
Arlen Specter started his political life as a liberal Democrat.
And now the senior senator from Pennsylvania is returning to the fold.
Specter, who has served five terms in the Senate as the last of the old-school Rockefeller Republicans, has finally given up on his long, fruitless effort to maintain a moderate base within what has become a hard-right party.
"Since my election in 1980, as part of the Reagan Big Tent, the Republican Party has moved far to the right," the senator explained in a statement announcing his decision to leave the GOP fold. "Last year, more than 200,000 Republicans in Pennsylvania changed their registration to become Democrats. I now find my political philosophy more in line with Democrats than Republicans.
U.S. Senator Arlen Specter, R-Pennsylvania, is now U.S. Senator Arlen Specter, D-Pennsylvania.
The big news, of course, is that with Specter's move Democrats will have 59 members in their Senate caucus (57 Democrats and independents Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Joe Lieberman of Connecticut). And the prospect that Democratic-Farmer-Labor candidate Al Franken will soon take the seat he won in last fall's Minnesota voting means that the Specter switch should give the Democrats the 60 seats they need to avert GOP filibusters of legislation and appointments.
For the Obama administration and the Democrats, Specter party switch is the most dramatic development since the election.
Specter's motivations for switching are no mystery.
The senator, who was a liberal Democratic lawyer in Phildelphia in the 1960s before joining to the GOP as part of a fight to break the city's Democratic machine, has long been the most left-leaning member of the Republican caucus in the chamber. He was targeted for defeat by conservatives -- led by the Wall Street-funded Club for Growth -- in 2004. President Bush and other key Republicans defended him that year, not out of love for Specter but because they did not want to lose a seat representing a blue state.
After he backed the economic stimulus plan that all House Republicans and most Senate Republicans opposed, Specter became the top target of the Republican right. Former Congressman Pat Toomey, who narrowly lost the 2004 Pennsylvania primary to Specter, announced that he would again challenge the senator in 2010; and GOP chair Michael Steele sent conflicting signals about whether the incumbent would have the party's support next year.
At the same time, top Democrats -- led by Vice President Joe Biden, a former senator from neighboring Delaware, and Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, a former Democratic National Committee chair -- have been actively lobbying Specter to change his party affiliation.
Specter's first test will come on the issue of the Employee Free Choice Act. Despite a history of working closely with labor -- and enjoying union backing in key contests -- the Pennsylvania senator sided with Republicans in saying he would support a filibuster to block the pro-labor legislation.
Presumably, the party switch will free Specter from the pressure to maintain his credibility -- and fund-raising prospects with big business interests -- by blocking EFCA. He says now that his position on EFCA is unchanged, but don't take the senator too seriously.
Watch for the newest Democratic senator to become a key player in a move to tinker with the measure just enough to secure not just his vote but that of straying Democratic senators such as Arkansan Blanche Lincoln. (In fact, while Specter will need some cover for an EFCA switch, it will undoubtedly be easier to bring him over than Lincoln.)
And watch for Specter to start flying his liberal flag on a number of high-profile issues.
Specter was closely tied to Americans for Democratic Action, the liberal activist group, in his early campaigns as a Republican. The Philadelphia ADA backed his early campaigns on the Republican line.
A number of key unions, pro-choice and pro-gay rights groups have backed him over the years. It was not just that Specter voted right now and again, he maintained amiable relations with these groups.
The fact of those relationships destroyed his prospects as a GOP presidential contender in 1996. But they form the basis for the presumption that Specter will not serve as a cautiously moderate senator from Pennsylvania but as a reasonably liberal Democrat.
39 Comments so far
Show AllThere's no substantive difference between the Democrats and Republicans. They are both completely beholden to corporate interests.
Do these people sleep at night or do they perform some kind of personal absolution so they can live with themselves? Do they have little twinges of of conscience as they toddle off to the bank? Or does it take a certain kind of lack of social conscience to even go into politics?
I applaud Sen. Specter's decision, but he's going to have to earn the nomination. First we gotta see some change on EFCA.
My understanding is that there is at least one already Democrat who intends to stay in the primary race. I hope he stays and forces Specter to define himself in the context of his new party affiliation. If Specter can win over voters in the Democratic Primary, fine. But we shouldn't simply hand him the prize just for this momentary acquisition of reason.
Wish he had done that before he killed habeas corpus with his Military Commissions Act vote.
Or before the day he allowed Gonzo to testify before the Senate Judiciary committee without being sworn in. Or before voting for Mukasey after Gonzo had to exit.
I can't figure out who smells worse from today: Specter, or Dems (including Obama) who welcomed him with open arms.
Specter keeps 40 years of senate seniority.
We the people, more screwed than yesterday.
The defection of Arlen Specter is a result of the two corrupt bargains the GOP made in the 60's & 70's: with the Dixiecrats angered by LBJ's support of Civil Rights, and with the "Born Again" nut bags in the 70's (which was brokered by Grandpa Caligula [Reagan]). Pandering to these never satiated nut bags has now come to roost & the GOP are now an endangered species outside in entire portions of the country (the Northeast & West Coast, for instance).
The Nation is just one of those tree houses where "the boys" congregate to sigh, and shoot spitballs, and complain about Things As They Are...right up until it's time for the vote. Then they pull the level for whatever comes out the donkey's backside.
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I would rather vote for what I want and not get it, than vote for what I don't want and get that. -- Eugene V. Debs
The whole playing field has moved so far right that even Reaganites like Spector are now Dems. again. Reagan would probably be a Dem. again, if he saw where his Revolution ended up.
Ronald Ray-Gun would vehemently deny that he had anything to do with any of this. He would break out into that doofus grin of his, wag his head of dyed, pomaded 1957 hair and blame it on financial "hippies" who refused to play by the rules. I, Ray-Gun, never never said "deficits don't matter". I never said that. Whoever said I did is a liar. Tell me who it is and I'll ask him to step outside.
I wonder if this "liberal Democrat" is sorry he got Clarence Thomas his job.
A nice gentle heave ho would be appropriate for all DemRep Congresspersons who accepted campaign contributions from any organization that took bailout money. There is a major conflict of interest on any voting on economic issues. The system is broken and until it is fixed it doesn't matter which side of the aisle any one person sits. Is there any one sincerely looking out for the best interests of this country or are they all looking out for themselves and the possibility of reelection? Ending the useless wars is best for this country. Rebuilding the infrastructure is best for this country. Holding persons responsible for war crimes accountable is best for this couontry. Holding the banks and Wall Street accountable for their fraudulent schemes is best for this couontry.
Transparency in all nooks and crannies would be best for this country. No wonder the ratings of Congress are in the dumpster.
Annabelle,
You are being too nice. A swift kick in the derriere out the door would be more appropriate (not to be violent or anything).
You know, when Nichols covers Specter with perfume and spices, I think the arguments Nichols and others used against John McCain largely disassemble themselves.
And I begin to sincerely worry even the so-called progressive opinion makers turn out to be willing to hustle their readers for "god and country"... at least their version....which draws into questions one's reluctance to put contradictory evidence up for review. nothing like reinforcing bias, I suppose....
then again, maybe Specter came over once Obama (Milquetoast,XLIV) signaled he wasn't going to uphold his pledge to restructure NAFTA, thus kneecapping Labor (and EFCA)....
Arlen Specter started his political life as a liberal Democrat.
And now the senior senator from Pennsylvania is returning to the fold.
He's setting up shop in a different part of the pig sty. Specter goes back a long way. He was one of the authors of that long forgotten best seller "The Warren Comission Report". He wrote the chapter on the single bullet theory which is the fulcrm of the plot.
The difference between Democrat and Republican is similar to the difference between Chevrolet and Pontiac...just decorative trim differences, but otherwise identical models.
The Republicans will go the way of the Pontiac...
"The only means of strengthening one's intellect is to make up one's mind about nothing, to let the mind be a thoroughfare for all thoughts." - John Keats
The GOP: From "Big Tent" to "Circus Tent" in just 20 years...
"The only means of strengthening one's intellect is to make up one's mind about nothing, to let the mind be a thoroughfare for all thoughts." - John Keats
Is it too late to confront Arlen Specter with the news that the ventral wound to JFK's throat was delivered from a .38 by Charles Nicoletti in frame 187 of the Zapruder film? Both Nicoletti and Johnny Roselli can be seen in the Tina Towner film, screened by a phalanx of members of the John Birch Society standing alongside the curb on Elm Street, off to the far left of Abraham Zapruder.
Democrats would be ashamed if they still had any souls.
It IS too late, I'm afraid.
Wasn't it ABC News-- home of Brian Ross, and maybe even featuring Brian Ross-- that aired a special a few years back relying on sophisticated computer animation to "prove" that the Warren Commission's conclusions, and Specter's "magic bullet theory", were correct?
(They accomplished this high-tech "proof" by reverse-engineering the bogus Warren/Specter disinformation and shoehorning it into the computer graphics to produce the desired result.)
· Yr Obd't Servant
GOOD ! And now, NO MORE EXCUSES ! Either the Democrats unite and fight or they're GONE GONE GONE ! No more filibuster excuses for GOOD this time. :)
P.S.: Sorry to get emotional here but after hearing the filibuster excuse for so long, I lost control of my mind.
And what about Bob Casey? Isn't he too conservative? Not that I see a difference between him being a Democrat or Republican anyway. Is there anything truly progressive Casey has done since winning that senate seat in 2006?
I agree. The Dems have no "it's the republicans' fault" cover anymore. If spencer wants to be a Democrat, that's all the reason anyone should have to go with Nader.
Not too fond of the Dems either, but I'd rather have them behind the wheel than the Pugs. Democrats have statistically been slightly less evil than the Republicans. As long as they plan to push more labor/ civil rights legislation through, they might just have my vote.
"Democrats have statistically been slightly less evil than the Republicans"
I think you'll find that this doesn't bear out or that the difference is statistically insignificant.
'Don't get fooled again' - Pete Townsend
"a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma." This was said of Russia by Winston Churchill, but might as well be said of the political career of Arlen Spector. One day he announces that he will hold with the Republicans on a filibuster against EFCA, the next he announces that he will change to the Democratic Party, which thrills DNC enthusiasts like Nichols, but he doesn't say he will change his EFCA position. When he was chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, he frequently confounded expectations. Maybe this should have been expected from one whose first claim to fame or infamy was when he was still a Philadelphia lawyer and staff member of the Warren Commission, who was responsible for one of the most ludicrous inventions of the political mind (at least until Iraq's "weapons of mass destruction"), the "single bullet theory" of JFK's murder, the linchpin of the Commission's bogus conclusion that a "lone gunman" had brought down JFK. Since it was the very mandate of the Warren Commission to reach precisely that conclusion, Spector early on displayed his ability and willingness to play the game of power politics. I've little doubt that his "party switch" was based on the same calculation of career expediency for himself.
Jerry, do you have Vincent Salandria's phone number by any chance? I'd like to give him a buzz and see if he finds a silver lining in the news of wily old fraud Specter switching parties.
Not to mention the prospect of equally unprincipled Democratic "pragmatists" lining up to welcome Specter with hot, wet kisses, as if he were the Prodigal Son returning home.
· Yr Obd't Servant
YOS I don't personally have Salandria's phone number and haven't contacted him but, as a JFK assassination researcher, have known several people who do know him. It would be interesting indeed to see what he would say about Specter c. 2009 as he had plenty to say (negative) about Specter c. 1964. There is a Vincent J. Salandria age 80 listed in online White Pages, and I presume that's "your man" but I wouldn't put his phone number on the www. If you reach him, it would be interesting to see what he might say.
The smile on Al Franken's face just got wider. That smirk surely must irk the Republicans now. Poetic justice methinks. A comedian irritating a bunch of other comedians. Can't wait to see the look on Oh!Really?'s, Hammity's, and Bicker's faces.
"A Liberal Democrat Returns to the Fold..."
- I think I'm going to puke. Unintentionally, in his obsequious sucking up to the Dem Party, Nichols reveals a basic truth: that you can be a Republican for 29 years, including years of loyal service during the Reagan, Bush, & Bush Jr regimes -- and still be considered a "liberal Democrat."
The only reason Specter is switching parties is purely unprincipled: he saw he wouldn't win the Republican primary nomination, where a far-right challenger is running far ahead of him. So we have an unprincipled change of parties, for this longtime loyal Republican -- and that's good enough to qualify him as a "liberal Democrat"!
Dave, Dave, Dave, don't you get it? Deep down inside, EVERY Democrat is a liberal Democrat. They're just waiting for the Right Time when the Evil Republicans are weak enough to let their True Liberal Colors come shining through? That's why Ben Nelson voted for Bush's torture bill in 2006 when he was leading in the polls by 40 points, that's why Democrats kept giving Bush pretty much whatever he wanted, even when he spent his entire second term with an approval rating south of 50%, and that's why it took them until oil went over $100 per barrel to vote for higher CAFE standards, even with huge supermajorities in favor. Oh, wait...
You're right. I apologize -- just don't know what came over me. I must have lost my head for a moment there.
But I'm better now, I promise.
Yawn. Who cares? There is not one bit of difference between the Repugs and Dims. They are two factions of the same corrupt party. Any other news worth reporting?
Oh c'mon.
That is some pathetic spin that goes to show you ain't no difference twixt the 2 parties.
Old one-bullet-theory-Anita-Hill Specter is trying to position himself for the next election. Imagine he claims that his party encapsulated by Reagan has veered too far to the Right. Guess the Dems are a comfortable enough fit for him now.
You folks over at the Nation are increasingly pathetic.
Spector has voted with the Republicans 65% of the time during this congress. That makes him less bad than most Republicans, but not much to celebrate over. The steelworkers of PA aren't going to just accept him unless he does change his position on EFCA. I am glad that the Republicans will now have trouble blocking a Democratic agenda- now we just have to push the Democrats to push an agenda worth having.
The Democratic Party is today to the right of where the Republican Party was 30 years ago (pre-Reagan).
If they resurrected Republican Eisenhower and he ran for the Democratic Party presidential nomination, he would be considered too liberal.
To raydelcamino: That's very, very true.
Hell, even Reagan responded to a recession by raising taxes to pay for infrastructure projects.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highway_Revenue_Act_of_1982
Speaking of that gasoline tax, you should see the way local and state pols rant on about raising the gasoline tax as some kind of a wedge issue. I can only imagine the look on Raygun's face these days. I thought Clinton did something similar.
Exactly. I just finished making the same remark on the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's forum. Eisenhower would regarded as a UN-loving, one-world government. peacenick today.
And as far as calling Specter a "liberal Democrat"? Well, my 11-year non-renewal of my Nation subscription will continue.
I do not find this news to be a particularly big thing - and may be bad thing if Specter doesn't change his mind on EFCA.
That makes two of us, Leftist. A long time ago I figured that either The Nation should dump Christopher Hitchens, or it should dump me; and since it didn't get rid of Hitchens, I canceled.
That, and their collusion in attempts to destroy Pacifica Radio didn't make me terribly happy either.