Subscribe to Moronmeter!Senate Democrats to Arlen Spector: You’re No Jim Jeffords
Arlen Spector
When Senator Arlen Spector (RD-PA) made his surprise announcement that he moving from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party (in order to save his own bacon in the face of a looming Republican primary loss because the Republican Party left him), he thought he would retain his seniority.
Well, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Senate Democrats showed that Senator Spector isn’t the only one who knows how to craft surprises.
Although Senator Spector had, apparently, been promised that he would keep his seniority, Roll Call reported last night that he would, in fact, be the junior Democrat on all but one of the five committees upon which he serves.
Although he’s totally getting the shaft in the other four committees, the 69-year-old will be next to the last in seniority on the Senate’s Special Committee on Aging. Perhaps in that committee they follow the ‘age before political expediency’ rule and that is just where Senator Spector falls.
As he lay snug in his bed the night before his big announcement, Senator Spector probably had visions of Senator Jim Jeffords dancing in his head. In 2001, when Senator Jeffords (RI-VT) left the Republican Party, became an Independent (who caucused with the Democratic Party), and broke the existing 50 Republican/50 Democrat Senate split, then Democratic leader Tom Daschle agreed to give chairmanship of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee to him (but Jeffords had to relinquish his chairmanship of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, which as given to Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA)).
Current Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had been in line for the chairmanship of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee when it was given to Senator Jeffords.
I think there are two lessons that can be learned from this.
- Arlen jumped the gun. If he had waited until one time funny man* Democrat Al Franken is installed as the 59th Democratic Senator, he could have been number 60 and provided the Democrats with a filibuster-proof majority. While that is not as impressive as it sounds, since the Democrats pretty much have the Republicans on the ropes in Congress, it would still be something. As it is, Arlen is number 59, the Democrats are waiting for Senator Franken to put them over the top, and poor Arlen doesn’t even get 30 pieces of silver.
- Harry Reid has a long memory. He is also more than willing to kick your ass to the curb, if he can do it when you aren’t looking.
The only way things could get worse for Spector is if a strong Democratic challenger appears for next year’s primary or if a strong Republican candidate were to step forward for the actual election.
Ah, well, Senator Spector, those races are a year away… plenty of time to shoot yourself in the other foot before then.
In the meantime, have fun getting coffee and doughnuts for all of the more senior Senators on your committees, Senator Spector.
*By “one time funny man”, I don’t mean that he is no longer a comedian. I mean that Al Franken is a man, who was funny, one time, a long time ago. I think it was the 70s.
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