Democrats’ long-standing admiration of Arlen Specter rising by the minute.
Just out from SEIU’s Andy Stern …
It’s clear to us that the right-wing conservatives in control of the leadership of the Republican party in Pennsylvania left Senator Specter long ago and we are pleased that he has decided to do the same. Just as he did with his leadership on the economic stimulus bill, Senator Specter has once again demonstrated the political courage it takes to put the interests of the working families of Pennsylvania ahead of partisanship. We have always had tremendous common ground with Senator Specter on issues important to working families including the need for reform to our nation’s labor laws. We look forward to continuing our long history of working with Senator Specter to create positive change for the working families of Pennsylvania.
Late Update: Here’s the post at the SEIU blog.
Joe Lieberman ‘welcomes’ Specter to the Democratic caucus …
“I enthusiastically welcome my good friend Arlen Specter into the Democratic caucus. It will be very good to have the company of yet another independent minded Democrat in the caucus!
“I have always admired Arlen as a man of deep principle who has been a bridge builder to get things done in the Senate. Arlen understands that we get things accomplished when we listen to the vital center of American politics. I know that Arlen will continue to make a major contribution to the Senate and the nation as an effective independent leader and problem solver.”
TPM Reader FB may be on to something …
I think what you are going to see is that Specter will have very strong motivation to organize the EFCA “compromise” which involves some “protection” of the sanctity of the secret ballot but gives labor about 80% of what it wants. It is kind of the inverse of Lieberman organizing “compromises” that gave Republicans 80% of what they wanted. If Specter doesn’t do that, labor will support a democratic primary opponent who could pull a Ned Lamont type surprise.
To add to the mix here, we’re just now listening to Sen. Specter’s press conference and he appeared to say that he would not vote for cloture for EFCA, which would really put him at serious loggerheads with a big part of the Democratic coalition in his state. Don’t that interpretation as definitive. We’re pulling the tape to make sure we have the working exactly right. But that seemed to be where he was pointing. If that’s where he’s planting his flag, he may find such a ‘compromise’ necessary.
Whatever else you can say about Specter today, this press conference is pretty entertaining and refreshingly candid. He just said he saw his internal poll numbers on Friday, jumped on Tuesday.
I can believe that.
Steele on Cutting Pandemic Flu Funding: How Were Supposed to Know This Would Happen?
TPM Reader MF checks in …
Listening to the press conference today, it became clear that Specter’s reputation as a feckless equivocator and a political opportunist is well-earned. Did you notice how, when he was talking about the circuit court judges, he used the term “we”? As in, the Republican Party. He CLEARLY still considers himself a Republican. Specter’s phony “defection” is meaningless. If he votes with the Democrats 10% of the time, I’ll be mighty surprised. In fact, I’ll be mighty surprised if he hasn’t switched back to the Republican Party immeadiately following the election. This is an all-in gambit. Last-ditch, go for broke. Specter is still a Republican.
The Democrats need to run someone against him in the primary. And hope to hell Specter loses.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), who heads up the NRSC, has a modest goal for 2010: help the GOP “regain our status as a national party.”
Michele Bachmann: Swine flu the fault of Democratic Presidents since last outbreak happened when Ford was in office.