Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA):

[Occam Bandage]

Poll question: Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA):

[tridim]

1. He's simply #60 on our way to 70+ in 2010

This is nothing but fantastic news for our party, and the worst news imaginable for the Republicans.

[tekisui]

20. Exactly. We will use him for a year and then it's up to him,

our cushion will make him irrelevant.

[Occam Bandage]

2. Kix.

[BuyingThyme]

3. This is soft-serve ice cream.

And I hate Arlen more than anybody.

[Occam Bandage]

8. I admit I don't really know what your metaphor means,

but soft-serve is an unpleasant waste of calories, so I think I get the gist.

[Marr]

4. Lieberman v.2.0

He will contribute nothing, except when his contribution isn't needed. The rest of the time he'll position himself as one of the 'rational' voices of the Democratic Party (while actual liberals remain ignored)-- and argue against everything that progressives believe. You just watch.

[Occam Bandage]

6. That wouldn't be the worst thing. Lieberman votes with us on cloture. nt

[Marr]

9. Overall, I think it'd be hard to argue that Joe Lieberman doesn't have a

net negative effect on the Democratic Party. Speaking as a rank and file voter, of course.

Let's see how Specter actually votes. I'm very skeptical.

[Occam Bandage]

13. I'll make that argument now.

He votes with us 80% of the time, and nearly 100% of the time on issues of taxes, social spending, abortion, healthcare, and equal rights. We need 60 votes to beat cloture, and he's a reliable one of those 60 on everything but the war and "national security." I'd much rather Lieberman be in our party, under Democratic pressure, than be in the Republican party under Republican pressure.

[Marr]

16. It's been awhile since I looked at Lieberman's voting,

but last time I did, he was a guy who voted with Democrats when he wasn't need, and with Republicans whenever they needed him. He's got his reputation for a reason. And voting record aside, the man spends all his public time promoting GOP rhetoric and doing everything he can to pull the rug out from under his supposed allies.

He has an effect on the party wider than his voting record, and I have to disagree with you-- I think it outweighs his contribution in Senate votes.

Still, we'll see how Specter votes. I expect he'll be more of a monkey wrench than anything else.

[Occam Bandage]

17. Only if you arbitrarily define "when he was needed"

to mean "on issues of national security, war, and Israel," and "when he wasn't needed" to mean "on literally every other issue, every time."

He got his reputation because he supported Bush and McCain due to their stances on the war. He's a jackass who doesn't give a shit about the party, and I certainly wouldn't advocate running him as VP or anything, but when it comes to his work as a Senator, he's better than at least a dozen other Dems.

The only thing that matters is votes. I don't give a shit if a politician worships Satan on the floor of the Senate. I care about whether they push us one vote closer or one vote further away from success on the issues.

[Johonny]

19. He's better than Joementum

Specter actually spoke out against the last administration he just never showed up on vote day to vote his mouth.

[GreenTea]

5. One name: ex- Dem Senator Joe Lieberman - Spy & republican sympathizer - both far too right-wing!

This an absolute concerning Specter!

[Ganja Ninja]

7. Oh great another right wing Democrat.

Not to look a gift horse in the mouth but I prefer left wing left wingers.

[demokatgurrl]

10. If he's a Democrat, a REAL one, I'm...

oh I don't know, Marilyn Monroe.

[Occam Bandage]

15. I'm not asking for him to be a "real Democrat."

All I hope is that he'll vote against Republican obstructionism. I don't care if he votes against us half the time, so long as he votes with us on every cloture attempt.

[lpbk2713]

11. 'Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer.'

:eyes:


Take that however you want.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

12. it meanst the dem brand has a better reputation than the GOP brand

which is good news

i think specter is a populist and just sort of goes with the tide, we can expect his support on popular items

[rucky]

14. He's doing this to get re-elected.

He's upfront about it. He's too close to center for his shrinking base, and would face a rougher challenge in a Republican primary.

But he has the name-recognition and reputation to walk in as the Dem nominee - possibly pushing out more progressive challengers. With his seniority, he'll probably be the ranking member in more than few committees.

Great he's sticking it to the Republicans, but between him and the Blue Dog coalition - now it means a little less to be a Democrat.

[ecstatic]

18. Great news for now but we need a primary challenger for '10

Do we have any good potentials (and don't say Tweety)?