Posts tagged “Arlen Specter”
Mass Media Delusion
The media seems to have pledged their allegiance to the proposition that Arlen Specter lost to Joe Sestak yesterday because of a strong voter backlash. But it wasn’t a backlash against self-admitted turncoat opportunists — who made no bones about the fact that “My change in party will enable me to be reelected” — it [...]
Bet You Didn’t Know This
Shaun Mullen at Kiko’s House: Specter … changed his party affiliation from Republican to Democrat in 1965 to challenge the incumbent Democratic district attorney in Philadelphia for his first electoral victory before changing back to Republican in his Senate bids… How long will he stay a Democrat this time? Is he more likely to change [...]
Head-scratcher
Here’s a funny one. On Tuesday, a well-known senator held a conference call with progressive bloggers. He was asked if, given Joe Lieberman’s threat to join the Republican filibuster, the senator “would support using the reconciliation process to pass health care reform with a public option, which would require a mere simple majority for passage.” [...]
Rampant Republican Resurgence
When moderate Republican Arlen Specter left the Republican party, that was visible evidence of the imminent resurgence of the Republican party: Sen. Arlen Specter’s decision to switch parties and run for reelection as a Democrat foreshadows a Republican landslide in midterm elections, Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) argued Wednesday. “This is the first visible evidence that [...]
Priorities
Matt already blogged last night about Senate Democrats signaling to Arlen Specter that he can vote against key Democratic positions as early and as often as he likes, but he can’t expect to usurp their privileges. Here’s a tidbit from Politico that adds the perfect footnote to Matt’s post: A Democratic aide said Tuesday night [...]
Hallowed Senate Tradition > Actual Democracy
Last week I linked to an article about Senior Senate Democrats getting their panties in a twist over Arlen Specter being allowed to keep his Senate seniority: Several Democrats are furious with Sen. Reid (D-Nev.) for agreeing to let Specter (Pa.) keep his seniority, accrued over more than 28 years as a GOP senator. That [...]
It’s OK Because He’s Your Douchebag, Right?
Arlen Specter is Barack Obama‘s kind of Democrat Jake Tapper: To follow-up on a couple of issues; one, regarding the Pennsylvania primary, President Obama has said he will commit to Senator Arlen Specter. Today Congressman Sestak of Pennsylvania said he’s “inclined” to challenge Specter in the primary. Given the fact that Specter, his very first [...]
This Looks Like a Sure Winner
On First Day as Democrat, Specter (Again) Bucks His Party – WaPo (4/29/09) Sen. Arlen Specter (Pa.) began his first full day as a Democrat since the early 1960s at a party-switching celebration hosted by President Obama and Vice President Biden. He ended it by casting another vote against Obama, opposing his budget as too [...]
They Just Like Round Numbers
It’s not surprising to look through my feed reader and see that 90% of the politics posts are about Arlen Specter switching parties to avoid an impossible primary. And I don’t begrudge the people their right to talk about it because it’s certainly news. It’s also entertaining to watch Republicans have to defend the defection, [...]
Specter’s Olympic-worthy Performance
Arlen Specter apparently has no middle name. But he certainly deserves one. And judging by his performance on Howard Stern‘s radio show yesterday, he seems to have earned one. Arlen “Supple” Specter (did you know that acronymania is also known as initialism?) managed to effortlessly pull off the difficult quadruple axel toe loop of political [...]