Posted by
Jonathan Krohn on Tuesday, May 12, 2009 8:21:33 AM
| WRITTEN BY JONATHAN KROHN |
| WEDNESDAY, 06 MAY 2009 10:40 |
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Well the verdict is in and we have another tragic story of political expediency boiling up on Capitol Hill. America's newest Democrat Senator, Arlen Specter, has gotten a big slap in the face by his new political party. Arlen has often stated that Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid will give Specter "full seniority rights" as a new Democrat Senator; the truth is, if this was true, it was a political move. ROLL CALL reports:
Despite promises from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) that Sen. Arlen Specter (Pa.) would retain his seniority after switching parties, Specter will be put at the end of the seniority line on all his committees but one under a resolution approved on the floor late Tuesday.
Not only has he been disowned by his old party, the Republican Party, but he has now been disowned by his new party. The new Senator, according to Glenn Thrush on POLITICO's HUDDLE:
...has said he’s not an automatic 60th vote on filibusters. Nonetheless, his new Democratic colleagues have officially designated him No. 60 — voting to shove the 29-year Senate vet to the back of the line (behind Roland Burris and Kirsten Gillibrand) when it comes to committee seniority.
The celebration is over, the champagne bottle is empty, the "love" from his new party has faded away, and the new Democrat is being treated as any newcomer to Congress is; put in the back of the line for appointments. However, the Specter situation was quite predictable.
The Democrat Party does not want to take chances with a man like Specter. He is Liberal, but not Liberal enough for some, and he is merely an accessory to help them get a sixty-vote-filibuster-proof-majority, as apposed to a key Democrat such as Sen. Reid or Sen. Dodd. The Dems don't really want Specter anymore then the Republicans do, but, for their own political gain they need Specter.
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