SOUTH DAKOTA STRAIGHT TALK

Pennsylvania U S Senator Arlen Specter’s switch from Republican Party is all about saving his political hide.

Senator Specter concluded that he was 20 points down in polling against former Representative and until just recently President of the Club For Growth Chairman Pat Toomey. Specter wants to stay in the Senate and he simply did not see that happening as a Republican. All his comment is nothing more than window dressing.

Office holders who switch parties while holding office just make me want to barf. Republicans who now are throwing a hissy fit over Specter a moderate don’t have their shorts in a bunch when then Democrats switch to the GOP. Think Senator Richard Shelby or Ben Nighthorse Campbell switched from Democrat to Republican. Likewise Democrats should not be gloating now.

When candidates run for office with a party designation they are using that party’s brand. They are telling voters they are a party member and will caucus with that party. Jumping ship is disingenuous.

Former U S Senator Phil Gramm set the gold standard for party switching. When he was a member of the U S House and decided to switch from Democrat to Republican, he resigned his seat and caused an election to be held. He said that the voters needed to affirm his decision to switch. Though laws do not require resignation it is the honest course of action. Obviously there are seniority and cost considerations that come from having a special election, but it is the right thing to do.

Arlen Specter has been in the public arena and controversial before and really raised the ire of both sides of the aisle. Today it is the GOP that is mad as we were when he borked President Reagan’s nomination of Robert Bork to the Supreme Court. Republican’s cheered though when Specter grilled Anita Hill and even claimed she had committed perjury during the Clarence Thomas Supreme Court confirmation hearings. His prosecution like questioning of Hill some claimed single handedly saved the nomination for Justice Thomas. Specter as Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee spearheaded Samuel Alito’s Supreme Court nomination through Committee and the full Senate. Nor was the GOP booing Specter when he killed Hillary Care in 1993. It was Specter’s famous organizational chart of the bureaus, agencies and boards that would oversee national health care that turned the politicians away from the Clinton plan.

Sidebar – Speaking of not being a stranger to controversy, Specter before serving as Prosecutor of Philadelphia, was assistant counsel to the Warren Commission that investigated the assassination of President Kennedy. Specter is the author of the miracle bullet theory.

This is not the first time that Specter has switched parties. In 1965 he ran for Philadelphia District Attorney in the Republican primary although he was a registered Democrat. He subsequently switched parties and became a Republican. He won the primary and the general election.

No one seems to be happy with Senator Specter. He along with the two GOP moderated Maine Senators, Snowe and Collins voted for President Obama’s Stimulus Package in February. The Dems felt that they needed a few Republicans to buttress their claim of bi partisan support. Specter had earmarked in the “stimulus” bill $4 Billion for medical research at the University of Pennsylvania. Dear reader you make your own conclusion about that buy off of bi partisanship.

Since the switch on April 28^th there has been some interesting kabuki as only practiced in Washington. Upon the announcement of the switch it has been assumed that Specter would be the critical 60^th Democrat Senator (assuming Al (now we have a real comedian in the Senate) Franken’s legal victory election.) Specter had spoken to Senate Leader Harry Reid and was assured that if he changed parties he would retain his seniority though he would not assume during this Congress any Chairmanships of full committees.

Interestingly several days later the Democrat Caucus would not affirm Reid’s deal with Specter. It seems that no Democrats wanted to give up their fiefdoms as Sub Committee Chairman. Snubbing their filibuster buster was a dumb move on the part of the Democrats. Killing the deal now cast the maverick minded Specter into the catbird seat over that important 60^th vote. Democrats now would have to buy off Specter each time they wanted to kill a GOP led filibuster.

Subsequently to get the maverick back into the Democrat caucus corral, Senate Democratic Whip, Dick Durbin, on apparently his own initiative has worked a deal to give Specter a sub committee chairmanship on the Crime and Drugs sub committee of the Judiciary Committee.

There have been some suggestion that Democrats will not support the Specter re election. Since President Obama has welcomed Specter to the Party, met with him at the White House and promised to campaign for him, I would not put any stock into Specter having a credible primary opponent. The suggestion is reminiscent of President Bush’s campaigning for Specter in the 2004 Pennsylvania primary when Specter was opposed by Pat Toomey. Specter won the primary 50.82% to 49.18%. Whether Specter will retain his seat is an open question but I wouldn’t sell him short just yet.

Endbar – another factoid about Specter is that his hometown growing up was Russell, Kansas also the home of Bob Dole. It was sometimes said that Russell Kansas had two U S Senators.