The American Spectator : The Spectacle Blog : Specter's Choice

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Clearly, Arlen Specter was facing a tough primary fight against Pat Toomey and from his statement it's pretty clear he determined that he couldn't win as a Republican. But it's no guarantee that he'll be able to win the Democratic nomination so easily either, especially given his vow not to reverse his position on card check yet again. If Specter had made this party switch right after his vote in favor of the stimulus package, and before he decided to oppose card check, he would have been in a far better position to claim the Democratic nomination. Now, as Kos writes:

Interestingly, he remains a foe of EFCA, which means that labor is free to fund and help a real Democrat in the Democratic primary. Bizarre choice. Had he decided to back EFCA, as he has always done so in the past, he'd have labor's full support. Now, he gives the opposition an opening to take him out in the Democratic primary.

This is a huge blow for Republicans hoping to stop Obama's agenda in the Senate. Specter had been moving to the right on issues such as card check because he was concerned about the challenge from Toomey, but if he's facing a tough battle against a liberal opponent in the Democratic primary, the opposite dynamic comes into play and he's likely to move even further to the left. The only way he'll get the Democratic nod is if he reliably votes with the administration.

View all comments (3) | Leave a comment

Eric Damon| 4.28.09 @ 1:28PM

I don't know that Specter would have been any help in stopping the filibuster, because he has been a Donkey in Elephant's clothing for a long time now. Just becuase he switched his stance on card-check does not mean that he would be siding with the GOP on anything else that matters. It is better to have him switch sides and KNOW that he isn't voting with you, than to have him remain in the Party and have to HOPE he won't sell you out when it matters the most.

Good riddance to a man who put his own electoral viability ahead of any principle she may have held.

bd57| 4.28.09 @ 2:26PM

I think I agree with Eric here.

Depending upon Specter voting to uphold a filibuster is a dodgy strategy at best.

Where the stimulus bill was concerned, Republicans only hope of influencing the legislation was for the Senate to stand firm after the House Republican caucus threw down the gauntlet.

Rather than hold out for some real concessions, Specter (and our friends from Maine) bailed on "the team" - - - what had been an opportunity to "have influence" was turned into a "mere gesture."

These days, "Moderate Republican" is defined as "reliably Republican on the easy votes, votes with Democrats to provide 'bi-partisan' cover on the hard ones."

Dennis D| 4.28.09 @ 3:23PM

A Dem supermajority will be fine in the short term. They have no excuses then. They cannot blame the GOP for obstruction . They can implode by themself with no excuses for failure. None.