Maybe?
Words.
"...A 60th vote...It takes 60 votes to move most legislation in the Senate. Until Tuesday, the Democrats had 58, including Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, another prickly maverick. Seat No. 59 belongs to Democratic comedian Al Franken -- if he can just get Minnesota's Supreme Court to certify his victory. Arlen Specter will make
60.
That's why the Democrats welcomed Specter with open arms. His defection not only made the Republican Party look bad, it boosted Obama's chances of passing legislation on his agenda of healthcare, energy and education before the 2010 election.
But 60 seats can be a mixed blessing. With 60 seats, the Democrats will have no excuses, no one else to blame, any time they can't hold their big caucus together. Their most independent, unpredictable members will enjoy massive power -- not just Specter but also Lieberman and Ben Nelson of Nebraska, another centrist.
And Specter has always been hard to please. He'll still be the 60th vote on every issue, just as he was on the stimulus bill -- the one who always has a special request before he can say yes. Reid will sometimes wonder whether this was such a good deal.
At the same time, a 60-vote majority can turn into an invitation to abandon bipartisanship. Obama set out to be a post-partisan president, crafting bills that could attract Republican support, but the stimulus plan turned into an exercise in polarization. If healthcare legislation becomes a Democrats-only affair, that will be the end of Obama's commitment to bringing along both sides of the aisle.
Specter's defection was good news for Democrats mostly because it showed that the Republican Party isn't through shrinking. The GOP, stung by its defeats in 2006 and 2008, hasn't yet come up with a recovery plan. Part of the party thinks the answer is to become more conservative; radio host Rush Limbaugh, for example, hailed Specter's departure as "good -- you're weeding out people who aren't really Republicans." "Big tent" Republicans like Sen. John S. McCain subscribe to a more conventional approach, working on the theory that a more inclusive party stands a better chance of attracting voters.
That approach, after all, is how the Democrats won so many seats in 2006. Under Rahm Emanuel, now Obama's chief of staff, they welcomed anyone who looked capable of winning an election, beliefs be hanged.
That's the party Arlen Specter just joined: the Let's Make a Deal Party. What it loses in coherence, it makes up in voting power."
No comments:
Post a Comment