Let's Primary his Ass

I think it would be an enormous mistake to let Arlen "I am loyal to none but me" Specter think that he has a guarantee of getting the Democratic nomination for the Senate in Pennsylvania in 2010.

To date, we have gotten bupkis from Specter.  He has come out against a public health plan choice, has come out against using the reconciliation process to pass health care reform, has reiterated his opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act, has opposed Dawn Johnsen's appointment to the Office of Legal Counsel, and has voted against bankruptcy assistance for homeowners facing foreclosure. 

Rich Trumka, Secretary-Treasurer of the AFL-CIO, has now stated explicitly that organized labor may well oppose Specter in a primary.  Andy Stern, President of the Service Employees International Union, America's fastest growing union, met today with Congressman Joe Sestak, who is seriously contemplating a run for Specter's seat.

Given how limited Specter's integrity and loyalty are, I think holding two guns to his head and one to his balls would be sound strategy indeed.   

Comments

[ari]

You'll forgive me if I want no part of Specter's withered-old-Jew balls.

[oddjob]

His balls being Jewish have bupkis to do with anything.

Trumka's a Pennsylvania boy, too. IIRC he's a Penn State grad. He started his labor career as a miner.

[Sir Charles]

Stern too. He was a Philadelphia social worker if memory serves, although he was born in New Jersey

Trumka holds the rare miner/lawyer double.

[Corvus9]

Agreed. It may be possible that Specter is just testing people right now, to see how much he can get away with, but even so, it's best to let him know how little he can. Primary his ass.

[nimh]

Second Reporter Sticks By Claim That Specter Vowed To Be “Loyal Democrat”:

We now have a second journalist who is sticking by the claim that Arlen Specter privately promised Obama that he’d be a “loyal Democrat,” which Specter loudly denied yesterday.

As I noted below, The Wall Street Journal’s Jonathan Weisman, who reported Specter’s promise, told me that he’s sticking by the report’s accuracy and that neither Specter nor his office disputed the story when it first came out last week.

Now ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos, who reported the same thing last week when the news broke about Specter’s switch, is telling me the same. [..]

If Specter privately fibbed to Obama about his loyalty to Dems, and is now publicly fibbing about having said it, perhaps it tells Democrats a thing or two about their new Senator.

[low-tech cyclist]

The party leadership is looking pretty damned stupid right now for essentially promising Specter a free ride in next year's primary, now that his freedom from having to get by
Toomey next spring has freed him to demonstrate that he votes like a Republican because that's where he's really coming from.

I'm not sure what Specter thinks is going to happen over the next year. He may have promises that Obama and the Congressional leadership won't back anyone who opposes him in the primary, and will try to keep the field clear for him. But if he keeps on voting like a Republican, how hard does he really think they'll work to keep his way clear?

Oh, they still won't publicly endorse another Dem in the primary, but he might wind up with some tepid, meaningless endorsements from Obama and Reid, and some pretty serious opposition, highlighting his recent words - not to mention his string of pro-GOP, anti-people votes.

Remember that at this stage four years ago, people in CT still thought Lieberman was great. PA's a more expensive state to run in, but if Specter's votes are overwhelmingly pro-GOP, the papers are going to have to pick up the refrain that Specter's not much of a Dem.

[Stephen]

I'm so tired of the Senate. Right now the chamber exists solely to get its members on TV to be fawned over for how courageous they are to hate hippies.

Specter isn't going to suffer any consequences for his words or his actions. Why should he? Nelson, Bayh and Lieberman haven't suffered for their actions. Specter is a Democrat now. Reid and Obama will want to show how accepting they are, how big the Democratic tent is. It's so big that not only can it accomodate people with differing, even opposing views, but also people who actively and openly try to burn the damn tent down.

Just because the GOP has become a party that only accepts people who subscribe to a narrow range of extremist ideas doesn't mean the Democrats need to abandon all principles entirely.

[litbrit]

Agreed. (But please, no more references to Arlen's ass. Not this close to lunch.)

Also, I must say, I love that an Irish dude can use bupkis in a sentence.

[Sir Charles]

My old roommates would be shepping nachas, as they say, or qvelling, over my mastery of the Yiddish, notwithstanding the tsuris that this tuchis Specter is putting us through.

[ballgame]

I think this is a great idea, and I'd be happy to make a contribution to help remove the Specter of Arlen from the Senate. But here's an important question: is he going to be able to pull a Lieberman and run as an "Independent" if he loses in the Democratic primary? If not, I'd say a real Democrat has a decent chance.

[Sir Charles]

ballgame,

He can't pull a Lieberman. Under Pennnsylvania law, as I understand it, that's not an option.

[Corvus9]

I don't really care about the endorsement angle. That's just standard political behavior, and it would seem off (to Washington) to not give Specter the same deference everyone else gets. Supporting incumbents is ultimately a way of maintaining seats (incumbents are always harder to beat), and so there is a culture of deference to them. This might be bad for party activists, of both the right and the left, (remember that the conservative politicians came out in force last time for Specter against Toomey, and for Chafee as well), but good for the parties, so it's there. Specter is now the Democratic Senator, so he gets that deference. Doesn't mean the primary voters need to follow it.

Now, you could say that, this being the case, they shouldn't allow such party hopping to occur, but again, political parties want to encourage such behavior, since it's an easy way to gain seats. Political parties, like businesses, are ultimately immoral, and non-ideological. They do what gets them elected, and when what they're doing isn't getting them elected, they (eventually) change. So Specter just found a way to game this system to his own benefit. There's no purpose in getting angry about this. He took a Queen with his knight; bitching about how knights shouldn't be allowed to move so goofy just makes you look sore. Better to focus how to get him into check with your other pieces. And really, his latest moves have been really dumb.