I still can't believe it! His switch, along with the Al Franken's eventual win, would ideally give the Senate Democrats the 60 seat fillibuster vote. Yes, he's always been more of a moderate Republican player (as one of the 3 Republicans to back Pres. Obama's stimulus bill)-- but wow!
11 comments:
so if Al Frankin gets his seat then the Dems will have a filibuster proof Senate.
Except for small number of moderate Dems on issues like energy.
I'm not so sure that having Specter switch will be a positive thing for the Dems. Now that the Democrats have 60 members, people are going to assume that they have a filibuster proof Senate. However, if you look at his statement and his past votes, he'll probably maintain his views on a lot of issues. This will mean that the cost of failure for the democrats is much higher. Expectations for this session of Congress will be much higher because people will think they have 60 votes, when in reality Spector will be the same as he always has. While this is good news today, it could come back to hurt the Democrats down the road.
Yes but as a Democrat Specter can take positions on issues he normally couldn't as a Republican. While expectations will be raised, I also believe results will increase as well.
I wonder if he'll flip flop --again-- on card check. Will Dems give him a pass in primary?
Quiz: Whose portrait?
Whose portraits?
The bottom one is Benedict Arnold.
i am actually a direct descendent of Benedict Arnold..and I am offended. This is no joke and I am not Kidding. I am a patriot.
I think the Dems will give him a pass in the primary, just because it would necessarily be a component of his deal to switch. He's out for reelection here, after all...
I like Nate Silver's point that Specter won't have to change his positions much--he benefits from being a swing vote for whom others compromise.
However, I do see this helping the Democrats out on healthcare and possibly energy--the big priorities that need that sort of symbolic threshold.
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