Arlen Specter’s Mistake

Many will remember Arlen Specter for his deft political maneuvering over the past couple of years (I will personally remember him for screaming at Ted Kennedy during the Judicial Confirmation hearings of Justice Alito). Last night marked the end of his long career in his defeat in a Democratic primary election. Speculation concerning the political death of one member of the old guard abounds: “The rain killed Arlen…Whatever chance he had went down with the rain,” said Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell. How will Specter characterize his defeat? Even his switch from a Republican to a Democrat could save his reelection bid.

It would appear that Specter, and Rendell for that matter, is mistaken as to the true reason underlying his defeat. The defeat is acknowledgement of two facts: the first is the general discontent with how the old boy network has been running the United States. Specter has been around for 30 years and Americans are dying for new blood, with new perspectives and a fresh approach to how Washington does business. We saw this with the election of President Obama, who ran explicitly on a strategy of building consensus and revolutionizing how politicking was conducted on Capitol Hill and from the White House.

The second is a general discontent with the Democratic party. Bush-bashing has lost its appeal: the White House, Senate, and Congress are under the firm control of the Democrats (except the loss of a filibuster-proof political process) so who will the American public now blame? Since the economic stimulus package unemployment has remained high (and underestimated as people stopped looking for jobs or their unemployment benefits expired). The wars are still on halfway across the world (and escalated by Obama). I know it’s nothing new when I say we can all be assured that we will see a Republican resurgence this fall. But, across party lines, I am sure we will an “out with the old and in with the new” approach to voting.

Sorry, Arlen, old buddy…nothing you could have done would have been enough to save you.

NYTimes article cited: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/19/us/politics/19specter.html?ref=politics

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