Specter hopes BZ is wrong
Perhaps Senator Arlen Specter was upset by BZ’s note that the Senate is now bereft of Jewish Republicans. A tidbit from the upcoming NYTimes Magazine interview with the party switching octegenarian. (ht Huffpo):
Q: With your departure from the Republican Party, there are no more Jewish Republicans in the Senate. Do you care about that?
A: I sure do. There’s still time for the Minnesota courts to do justice and declare Norm Coleman the winner.
Congressional Quarterly has him saying he “conclusively misspoke” but I think the real Snarlen Arlen was speaking then. This move is about political expediency, about pulling a Lieberman in a state that won’t allow him to start his own party if he loses the election. So call me completely unsurprised that he’s not so supportive in getting a real Dem into the Senate chamber.
I know a lot of people have been really excited about the Dems getting to 60, but 60 people with a D after their name is not the same as 60 reliable votes on an issue. I’d much rather wait the 1.5 years and replace Specter with an actual Democrat, who may not be perfect but will be far better than Specter.
I would be ecstatic to be wrong here, but I think the Dems have thrown a lifeboat to someone who should’ve gotten an anvil. This guy is going to be worse than Blanche Lincoln and he’s in a state that Obama took by what, ten points?
Frankly, the most upsetting portion of this comment was “ There’s still time for the Minnesota courts to do justice and declare Norm Coleman the winner.”
This comment is from the former Chairman of the Judiciary Committee. The comment assumes that all the legal rulings that have been made thus far have been incorrect. Considering that the State Canvassing Board which included two members of the MN-Supreme Court who were appointed by Republican Governor Pawlenty issued an unanimous ruling that Franken won, and that the Election Contest Court which was made up of three appellate court judges (each appointed by governors representing different political parties) issued an unanimous ruling that Coleman failed to prove his case while ruling that Franken won, these comments — “to do justice and declare Norm Coleman the winner.” — are totally inappropriate.
This is an unwarranted and unjustified comment shows a real ignorance of the legal aspects of the case.
Second, Specter seems to put Party over Faith. Does it matter that there are no Jewish Republicans ? After all, Al Franken who is a Jew would join Michael Bennet, Barbara Boxer, Ben Cardin, Diane Feinstein, Russ Fiengold, Herb Kohl, Frank Lautenberg, Carl Levin, Chuck Schumer, and Ron Wyden as Democrats plus Joe Lieberman and Bernie Sanders of the Jewish faith in the Senate.
Lastly, Specter should learn from Coleman’s history. Coleman was a Democrat who became a Republican and using the influence of Dick Cheney lead to his nomination in 2002. The MN-GOP never trusted Coleman and is the primary cause for his failure to win re-election in 2008 (considering his stance on immigration, climate change, SCHIP and ANWR, there was active discussion to throw Coleman under the bus.) Coleman only got 42% of the vote … shockingly low number for an incumbent Senator. The PA-Dems may look at Specter very closely over the next year and decide whether he is true to the Democrat Party platform.
Best line I’ve heard all week: I think the Dems have thrown a lifeboat to someone who should’ve gotten an anvil.
KFJ- wish I could take credit for that frame, but I’m pretty sure I got that from Kos. Still, the visual works, no?
Specter is very unlikely to be “worse than Blanche Lincoln” because the state in which he is seeking reelection is a a good deal more aligned with Barack Obama than is Lincoln’s state. And before he can even run for reelection he has to win renomination from his new party, where the same comparison to Arkansas applies (if not more so).