Specter, the Defector
Arlen Specter, the only Jewish Republican in the US Senate, announced Tuesday, April 28, that he will seek re-election in 2010 as a Democrat.
Specter first came to public attention in 1964, when, as Assistant Counsel to the Warren Commission, he invented the "single-bullet theory" regarding the assassination of President John F Kennedy. Although a Democrat at the time, he won the Republican nomination for District Attorney of Philadelphia in 1966 and was elected. After several unsuccessful campaigns for statewide office, he was elected to the Senate in 1980, and re-elected since. He campaigned for the 1996 Republican nomination for President, but withdrew when it became apparent that Senator Bob Dole of Kansas would be nominated. Specter voted against conviction of President Bill Clinton in his 1998 impeachment trial before the Senate.
Specter has been conservative on some issues, but liberal on others. He is "pro-choice" and voted for President Obama's Stimulus Plan earlier this year. To the right wing of the Republican Party, even a little liberalism is too much. He barely survived a challenge for renomination in 2004 by Republican Rep. Pat Toomey, and apparently concluded that he could not win the Republican senatorial primary next year. Toomey is now expected to be the Republican nominee.
Specter is the biggest catch for the Democrats since Senator Jim Jeffords of Vermont became an independent in 2005. Mayor John Lindsay of New York City switched to the Democratic fold in 1971, and went on to take a drubbing in the 1972 Democratic presidential primaries. On the other hand, Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut was elected in 2006 as an Independent after losing the Democratic primary over his support for the war in Iraq.
The Specter defection will be taken as another sign of the narrowing of the Republican Party to a base of white, mostly southern, Christian conservatives. Older readers will recall the Eastern Establishment of the Republican Party that included such major figures as Senator Jacob Javits and Governor Nelson Rockefeller (NY), Senator Warren Rudman (NH), Senator Clifford Case (NJ), Senator Henry Cabot Lodge (MA) and Senator Margaret Chase Smith (ME). While the center of power in the Republican Party in recent years has drifted to the South and the West, Democrats have become increasingly ascendant in the Northeast.
But while the Republican Party has become more hard-right, losing moderates like Arlen Specter in the process, the Democratic Party has lost most of the white South. Older readers will recall that John Connally, George Wallace, Harry Byrd, Strom Thurmond, Lester Maddox, and Orval Faubus were all elected as Democrats. Democrats like John Edwards (NC), who have won in the South in recent years, are barely distinguishable from northern Democrats. Where there was once a substantial ideological overlap between the parties, today they are sharply divided on issues such as taxes, abortion, and gun-control.
Although Senator Specter will be 80 years old in 2010, and is struggling with Hodgkin's disease (cancer of the lymph nodes), he is determined to win another term in the Senate. If he wins, the Democratic leadership will acknowledge his seniority, and he will be an important member . He says he has major work to do there, and that must be enough to keep him going.
Specter first came to public attention in 1964, when, as Assistant Counsel to the Warren Commission, he invented the "single-bullet theory" regarding the assassination of President John F Kennedy. Although a Democrat at the time, he won the Republican nomination for District Attorney of Philadelphia in 1966 and was elected. After several unsuccessful campaigns for statewide office, he was elected to the Senate in 1980, and re-elected since. He campaigned for the 1996 Republican nomination for President, but withdrew when it became apparent that Senator Bob Dole of Kansas would be nominated. Specter voted against conviction of President Bill Clinton in his 1998 impeachment trial before the Senate.
Specter has been conservative on some issues, but liberal on others. He is "pro-choice" and voted for President Obama's Stimulus Plan earlier this year. To the right wing of the Republican Party, even a little liberalism is too much. He barely survived a challenge for renomination in 2004 by Republican Rep. Pat Toomey, and apparently concluded that he could not win the Republican senatorial primary next year. Toomey is now expected to be the Republican nominee.
Specter is the biggest catch for the Democrats since Senator Jim Jeffords of Vermont became an independent in 2005. Mayor John Lindsay of New York City switched to the Democratic fold in 1971, and went on to take a drubbing in the 1972 Democratic presidential primaries. On the other hand, Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut was elected in 2006 as an Independent after losing the Democratic primary over his support for the war in Iraq.
The Specter defection will be taken as another sign of the narrowing of the Republican Party to a base of white, mostly southern, Christian conservatives. Older readers will recall the Eastern Establishment of the Republican Party that included such major figures as Senator Jacob Javits and Governor Nelson Rockefeller (NY), Senator Warren Rudman (NH), Senator Clifford Case (NJ), Senator Henry Cabot Lodge (MA) and Senator Margaret Chase Smith (ME). While the center of power in the Republican Party in recent years has drifted to the South and the West, Democrats have become increasingly ascendant in the Northeast.
But while the Republican Party has become more hard-right, losing moderates like Arlen Specter in the process, the Democratic Party has lost most of the white South. Older readers will recall that John Connally, George Wallace, Harry Byrd, Strom Thurmond, Lester Maddox, and Orval Faubus were all elected as Democrats. Democrats like John Edwards (NC), who have won in the South in recent years, are barely distinguishable from northern Democrats. Where there was once a substantial ideological overlap between the parties, today they are sharply divided on issues such as taxes, abortion, and gun-control.
Although Senator Specter will be 80 years old in 2010, and is struggling with Hodgkin's disease (cancer of the lymph nodes), he is determined to win another term in the Senate. If he wins, the Democratic leadership will acknowledge his seniority, and he will be an important member . He says he has major work to do there, and that must be enough to keep him going.
Labels: Specter
posted by Gerald S Glazer at 4:13 PM
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