It isn't that huge, other than numbers. Specter doesn't vote for things just because his party wants him to, so the filibuster block will only work for issues that he supports. Don't count on him to support the Employee Free Choice Act, for instance.

^ Yeah, I happened to have read the statement behind the link I put in my own post.

I'm thinking more about cap & trade and healthcare than about EFCA.

While I agree, Specter had always been fairly moderate/independent, Republicans were putting up a fairly strong primary challenge to him this year. He essentially confessed in his press conference that the main impetus for him changing was because he looked all but certain to lose the primary.

He's still got to win the Democratic primary though, and that means he can't really stick it to the unions, or they're liable to back a more progressive candidate.

I'm thinking that after the Dems set up a vote for the full-strength version so he can keep his promise to sink it via filibuster, he'll wind up supporting a slightly watered-down version of EFCA.

Regardless, I'm sure there will be (and have been) a huge number of deals and compromises worked out -- in many ways the Dems didn't need or want him to flip. They were solidly on track to win Specter's seat in 2010 anyways, and could have done so with a much more liberal candidate than Specter.

So Specter will find that while Democrats won't demand absolute obedience, they will want him to at least help invoke cloture on most of the larger issues. If he won't play ball at least on that level, Democrats can fix that problem in 2010 fairly easily, without having given up anything in the meantime.

Specter is about as moderate a Republican as John Boehner is.


Here's a brief rundown:

In the 110th Congress, Specter voted with his party 70.6 percent of the time

• Rated 12% by APHA, indicating a anti-public health voting record.
• Rated 81% by the Christian Coalition.
• Rated 0% by SANE, indicating a pro-military voting record.
• Rated 0% by the ARA, indicating an anti-senior voting record.


• Voted YES on Bush Administration Energy Policy.
• Voted YES on defunding renewable and solar energy.
• Voted YES on drilling ANWR on national security grounds
• Voted YES on allowing some lobbyist gifts to Congress.
• Voted NO on repealing tax subsidy for companies which move US jobs offshore.
• Voted NO on $100M to reduce teen pregnancy by education & contraceptives.
• Voted YES on prohibiting same-sex marriage
• Voted YES on Amendment to prohibit flag burning.
• Voted NO on banning drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
• Voted NO on including oil & gas smokestacks in mercury regulations.
• Voted NO on background checks at gun shows.
• Voted NO on negotiating bulk purchases for Medicare prescription drug.
• Voted NO on including prescription drugs under Medicare.
• Voted YES on Strengthening of the trade embargo against Cuba.
• Voted NO on requiring FISA court warrant to monitor US-to-foreign calls.
• Voted YES on telecomm deregulation.
• Voted YES on authorizing use of military force against Iraq


On March 9, 2006, the USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005 was signed into law. It amended the process for interim appointments of U.S. Attorneys, written into the bill by Arlen Specter during his chairmanship of the Senate Judiciary Committee.[18] The change allowed the Bush Administration to appoint interim U.S. attorneys without term limits, and without confirmation by the Senate. The Bush administration used the law to place at least eight interim attorneys into office in 2006.



There's ungodly amount more of really piss-poor judgment.

I've got a more relevant post:

Why would anyone want a deuche bag like Specter in their party?

...I mean besides the fact that he's a warm body, does he bring anything to the table?