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Democrats put Specter at bottom of seniority list; Republicans are amused
By: Byron York
Chief Political Correspondent
05/05/09 10:02 PM EDT
There's word tonight that Senate Democrats have denied Arlen Specter seniority on the committees on which he will now serve as a Democrat. That means Specter, who has been a senator for 28 years, will now occupy the most junior position among Senate Democrats. A few minutes ago, I asked a GOP Senate source for his reaction. "I don't know if it says more about [Senate Majority Leader Harry] Reid's lack of commitment or Specter's naiveté," he told me. "But either way, it's going to be hard for Specter to argue that dumping him now would cost his constituents seniority and clout -- he has the same ranking on committees that his successor will have in 2011."
There goes another argument against a Democratic challenge to Specter in 2010. I then asked whether my source thought Specter had been mistreated, or whether Democrats just didn't trust him. "I think this shows that Reid didn't pull him over, didn't entice him," my source told me. "I think Specter's switch was a surprise to most of the Democratic caucus, and they weren't going to get bumped by an opportunist."
Meanwhile, Specter has told Congressional Quarterly that he "misspoke" when he said he hoped Minnesota's highest court will award that state's Senate seat to Republican Norm Coleman over Democrat Al Franken. Lefty politicos and blogs have been burning up with word of Specter's apostasy, so now Specter says he hopes for "more Democratic members" in the Senate. But just so no one will be confused, the exchange in question between the New York Times Sunday Magazine and Specter was:
Question: With your departure from the Republican Party, there are no more Jewish Republicans in the Senate. Do you care about that?
Specter: I sure do. There’s still time for the Minnesota courts to do justice and declare Norm Coleman the winner.
Asked to explain his words, Specter told CQPolitics, "In the swirl of moving from one caucus to another, I have to get used to my new teammates. I'm ordinarily pretty correct in what I say. I've made a career of being precise. I conclusively misspoke."
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