Sen. Arlen Specter Compelled to Cross the Aisle – A Dual Lesson in Politics

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Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter’s renunciation of the Republican Party to join the Senate Democratic Caucus teaches us two interlocking lessons about the state of politics in the United States 100 days into Barack Obama’s presidency.

Arlen Specter and Barack Obama are consummate politicians. Each had something the other wanted. With that established it was a done deal. Specter switched parties, joining the Senate Democratic Caucus. While not a rubber stamp for Obama’s policies (his first vote was a “no” on the Obama budget), he and the administration have common legislative goals, such as healthcare. Specter provides the filibuster-proof 60 vote majority to squelch the GOP Claque of No. Obama along with Pennsylvania’s Democratic Governor Ed Rendell have cleared the field for the Pennsylvania Democratic Senatorial primary, leaving Arlen Specter without serious challenges to capture the Democratic senate nomination. This quid pro quo by the Democratic Party saved Arlen Specter from a certain beating in the state’s Republican primary.

As observed by the talking heads, Arlen Specter is out for Arlen Specter. The only option for him to retain a seat in the Senate was to make a deal with the Democrats. The second lesson is the answer to “why?”. Arlen Specter has been a solid moderate Republican with an inimitable independent streak. Specter refused to join the Claque That Says No and provided a crucial Republican vote to pass the president’s stimulus bill. It is the Claque That Says No in both houses of Congress that speaks to the nature of today’s Republican Party, a national party that has shrunk at a rate rarely paralleled in American political history. GOP spokesmen blather about expanding the Republican “tent” to compete with the rainbow base enjoyed by the Democrats. Instead, the Republican Party has become a tightly knit group of bitter right wing sore losers with no fresh ideas, leaders or inclination to work with the administration to fix the country’s economy. It flexes its pathetic political muscles through its Claque That Says No. It resembles more a faction of the Grand Old Party than the Party itself. When Rush Limbaugh is held out as a Party spokesman/leader, the Party of Abraham Lincoln needs not just a makeover, but full-fledged renovations.

Arlen Specter, a moderate Republican, could not withstand the bitter right wing’s onslaught he saw coming in his own state’s Republican primary. Specter's crossing of the aisle was about mutually beneficial political deals compelled by the locked down extremism of the Republican Party 100 days into the Barack Obama’s presidency.

May 5, 2009 update: In a voice vote, the Senate overrode Majority Leader Harry Reid and stripped Arlen Specter of his seniority, thus relegating him to the position of the most junior Democratic senator.

May 31, 2009 update: Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell strongly discourages Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA) from entering the 2010 primary race against Arlen Specter: there is time for Sestak to run in the future, and, Specter will wallop the GOP candidate in 2010.

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