Thread: Democrats Strip Specter of Seniority (Updated)

Specter Humiliated: Democrats Strip GOP Defector of Rank

Wednesday, May 6, 2009 12:21 PM

Senator Arlen Specter was unexpectedly stripped of his seniority Tuesday night in what seemed a humiliating blow by Democrats who had earlier welcomed the former Pennsylvania Republican’s defection from the GOP.

Specter’s office was not commenting, but earlier the senator had told reporters he was going to keep his senior rank on key committees, The Washington Post and Politico reported. The move not only strips the five-term senator from legislative clout, it also hampers his ability to convince voters he can still bring influence to issues in Pennsylvania as he approaches election there in 2010.

It was the likelihood that Specter would lose a Republican primary that prompted him to jump to the Democrats. Now, though President Barack Obama has promised to campaign for him, Specter could face a Democratic challenger in that party’s primary. After that, he may be up against former Gov. Tom Ridge – the state’s most popular Republican – in the general election.

The Senate vote stripping him of rank came after Specter made a huge faux pas against his new party -- Specter told The New York Times Tuesday that he hoped Republican Norm Coleman wins the protracted court battle over the Minnesota senate seat. Democrats want candidate Al Franken to prevail over Coleman in order for the party to attain a filibuster-proof majority of 60 in the Senate.

Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., read on the Senate floor yesterday a resolution making Specter the most junior Democrat on four of his five committee assignments. It stood in stark contrast to Reid's alleged promise that Specter would retain his seniority if he switched from the Republican to the Democratic party.

Specter serves on the Appropriations, Judiciary, Veterans Affairs, Environment and Public Works, and Special Aging committees. He had been the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, which is preparing for hearings on a Supreme Court nominee to replace the retiring Justice David Souter.

When Republicans were in the majority, Specter chaired the confirmation hearings for Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito. He now will have to wait in line to question the nominee, the Associated Press reported. Specter also was the top Republican on the subcommittee that funds the National Institutes of Health. The issue is a personal one for him because he has twice battled cancer.

The move came only a day after Specter boasted of the power he had through seniority to voters in Pennsylvania.

"My senior position on Appropriations has enabled me to bring a lot of jobs and a lot of federal funding to this state," Specter said at a town hall meeting on Monday, according to CNN.

Over and over, CNN reported, Specter made a point of telling an auditorium filled with medical faculty and staff about the hundreds of millions of dollars he delivered to the Keystone State, thanks to the power he's accumulated in his 29 years in the Senate.

"Pennsylvania has a big interest in my seniority, a big interest," he said.

Speaking on NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday, Specter said that it's an "entitlement" for him to retain his seniority on those committees.

"I was elected in 1980. I think that's not a bribe or a give for something extraordinary," he said. "I'll be treated as a Democrat as if I was elected as a Democrat."

Specter could have a chance to reclaim his seniority on influential committees such as the Appropriations and Judiciary Committees after the 2010 midterm elections, Democrats have suggested.

Perhaps realizing the consequences his Coleman remarks, Specter quickly changed his tune. He told Congressional Quarterly on Tuesday that he would like to see more Democratic members elected in the 2010 midterms.

"In the swirl of moving from one caucus to another, I have to get used to my new teammates," Specter said. "I’m ordinarily pretty correct in what I say. I’ve made a career of being precise. I conclusively misspoke."

But Democrats have not only stripped Specter of his clout, they’ve used his defection from the GOP to attack his former party colleagues. In a new Web ad from the Democratic National Committee, they parody the TV show “Survivor to highlight "the continued disunity" within the GOP. It doesn't have a strong political message, just points out that the Republicans currently don't have a strong leader.

The final result is that Arlen Specter has betrayed the party that supported him for decades, only to be apparently betrayed by the party that seduced him to defect.

http://www.newsmax.com/headlines/arlen_ ... 11368.html

Removing his former considerable clout on amnesty legislation, which must pass through the Judiciary Committee?!

Commies eat their own.

He's getting a taste of the Socialist "order."

We can only hope that he turns on them, votes against them on key issues and stays in office. If he quits, they will replace him with a Democrat because the Gov. of PA is a Democrat and he will nominate a replacement.

He would have been better of going independent.

Dixie

Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., read on the Senate floor yesterday a resolution making Specter the most junior Democrat on four of his five committee assignments.

HAHAHA. SPECTER WAS STUPID ENOUGH TO BELIEVE SENATOR REID. HE GOT BOINKED.

Better just announce your retirement right now, "Benedict" Arlen

Originally Posted by butterbean

Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., read on the Senate floor yesterday a resolution making Specter the most junior Democrat on four of his five committee assignments.

HAHAHA. SPECTER WAS STUPID ENOUGH TO BELIEVE SENATOR REID. HE GOT BOINKED.

Couldn't have happened to a better man.

Democrats Backtrack, Give Specter a Chair

Thursday, May 7, 2009 11:28 AM

WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats gave party switcher Arlen Specter a plum Judiciary subcommittee chairmanship on Thursday as a potential primary challenger to the veteran Pennsylvania lawmaker stepped forward.

Majority Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois said he would give up his chairmanship of the Crime and Drugs subcommittee in exchange for becoming chairman of a panel on human rights. The move, he said, would "best utilize Senator Specter's talents and experience in our caucus."

The move came as Rep. Joe Sestak, D-Pa., a former Navy vice admiral, said he's seriously considering challenging Specter in the Pennsylvania primary next year.

"The Democratic political establishment reached into the GOP establishment to give us the Democratic candidate for the future. I don't think we want to re-establish the establishment," Sestak said in an interview with The Associated Press.

"It's not theirs to make, it's ours to make. That's really what moved me. It's the ideal. It's not what we came to Washington to do is tell Pennsylvanians what they are to do in their Democratic choices."

The musical chairs of subcommittee chairmanships were designed to stem the fallout in the days since Specter switched to the Democratic Party last week. Democrats on Tuesday failed to honor Specter's 28 years of Senate seniority he accumulated as a Republican before switching.

Since switching, Specter has been at odds with his new party, voting against the Democratic-backed budget, expressing opposition to a government option on healthcare overhaul, and maintaining his opposition to a bill that would make it easier for unions to organize. Democrats also questioned his support for Republican Norm Coleman over Al Franken in the unresolved Minnesota Senate race.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., told CNN on Wednesday that, when he asked Specter about the remark, Specter said, "I forgot what team I was on."

The Crime and Drugs panel is Judiciary's busiest subcommittee, responsible for oversight of the Justice Department, federal prosecutors, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, and drug control policy.

As a chairman, Specter would retain some of his clout on the full committee when it convenes to consider President Barack Obama's nominee to replace retiring Justice David Souter.

Durbin said Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., as well as Reid, signed off on the subcommittee switch.

Specter said last week he and Reid had agreed he would be treated for seniority purposes as though he had been elected as a Democrat when he first came to the Senate in 1980. The issue has important ramifications because chairmanships, which come with money to hire large staffs, could be at stake.

Reid aides say the majority leader did not make a flat commitment to honor the Pennsylvania lawmaker's seniority, telling him he would try but the issue would have to go before the Democratic rank and file.

The Senate approved a resolution Tuesday making Specter the most junior Democrat on the committees on which he serves. The resolution was passed after an agreement was reached between leadership in both parties and Specter, said Jim Manley, a spokesman for Reid.

http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/spec ... 11880.html