Back of the line for Specter

[Joanne98]

He probably should have gotten it in writing.

When Senator Arlen Specter defected from the Republican party and joined the Democrats last week, he suggested he had assurances that his 29 years of seniority would transfer over, putting him ahead of many new colleagues.

But his new compatriots balked, and on Tuesday night, the Senate passed a resolution that made him the most junior Democrat on the committees on which he serves.

Today, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said it will all work out. "In the meantime, Arlen knows that we're not going to change any of the subcommittee chairs or the full committee chairs," Reid said on MSNBC. And we'll take a look at this next Congress as we always do. This is a decision the caucus has to make."

The seniority issue will be reconsidered after the 2010 elections. Specter is up for re-election next year and a major reason for his switch was that he was likely to lose the Republican party.

Since announcing his switch, Specter has raised eyebrows by voting against President Obama and Democrats and suggesting in an interview that will appear in Sunday's New York Times magazine that he favored Republican Norm Coleman in the contested Senate race in Minnesota.

Reid said he asked Specter, " 'What's this all about? And he said, 'Well, that isn't really what I meant,' words to that effect. So I accept that."

"He's a moderate person," Reid added. "I think that he'll fit in very well with the caucus and on procedural votes he'll be with us all the time. If he -- I think there's just a lot for him to get used to and kind of a lot for us to get used to. But we're glad he's with us."


http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2009/05/back_of_the_lin.html

[Skink]

1. meanwhile the republicans move the hawks into position.

[DebbieCDC]

2. Reid is a douche

When is the caucus going to vote him out as "leader" and put someone in with a spine?