Specter deal angers Dems

By Michael J.W. Stickings

The Hill:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) deal to allow Sen. Arlen Specter to retain his seniority after he switches to the Democratic Conference has not been received well by senior senators in the party.

Several Democrats are furious with Reid for agreeing to let Specter (Pa.) keep the seniority accrued over more than 28 years as a Republican senator. That could allow him to leap past senior Democrats on powerful panels -- including the Appropriations and Judiciary committees.

Can you blame them? For all the good feeling among Democrats over Specter's defection -- it gets them ever closer to the magic, filibuster-proof 60, and it embarrasses the Republicans, signalling just what a far-right party they are -- it must be remembered that Specter is still, as he always has been, a Republican. To the extent that he's now a Democrat, or a "Democrat," he's what's called a DINO (Democrat-In-Name-Only). He intends to remain as "independent" as ever, which is to say, he'll only be voting with his new party when it suits him, when, as was the case with his defection in the first place, it's politically convenient (given that he's looking ahead with determined self-interest to his re-election bid next year) for him to do so. Given that his vote isn't a sure thing -- and given that even with Specter seated and Franken taking his place as #60, the Democrats will have a tough time coming up with 60 votes (given that the 60 includes non-team players like Lieberman, Bayh, and Nelson -- what is the point of allowing him to maintain his seniority? (For more on this, see my recent post here.)

Senate Democrats -- the real Democrats in the Senate, those who fight for the party and what it stands for -- have every right to be angry.