5/6: Arlen's Asking For It

Does Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA) want a primary challenge? His behavior during the past week makes it seem as though he's deliberately trying to anger the Dem base. First, he reiterated his intent to vote against the Employee Free Choice Act in his statement announcing his party switch. Then he reaffirmed his opposition to Pres. Obama's nominee for OLC Chief, IU law prof. Dawn Johnsen. Then he voted against Obama's budget. Then he appeared on Meet The Press, where he announced his opposition to a key part of Obama's health care plan (the public insurance option) and denied having promised the President that he would be a "loyal Democrat." Then he told the New York Times that the MN courts should "do justice and declare [ex-GOP Sen.] Norm Coleman the winner" in his disputed Senate race against Al Franken (D). Finally, he told reporters that the one Senate vote he regrets was his vote against the confirmation of Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) back when Sessions was nominated to be a federal judge (Sessions' nomination was derailed by allegations that he had made racially insensitive remarks -- allegations which liberals are currently exploring now that Sessions has replaced Specter as the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee).

The netroots are fed up with Specter at this point. Markos Moulitsas writes: "Keep it up Arlen, your Joe Lieberman impersonation is so spot-on, that we can't wait to take you on in the Democratic primary." More and more lefty bloggers are calling for a credible primary challenger to push Specter to the left or (even better) beat him. They're pleased that Rep. Joe Sestak (D-07) is making noises about challenging Specter if the senator doesn't change some of his positions, although they're urging Sestak to wait a few weeks before announcing his candidacy.

What else is happening in the blogosphere?

• Although a new Public Opinion Strategies poll shows ex-Gov. Tom Ridge (R) destroying ex-Rep. Pat Toomey (R) in the PA GOP Senate primary, bloggers on the left and right both have doubts that Ridge could beat Toomey.
• Conservative bloggers (Hawkins, Hinderaker, Freddoso, Morrissey, Bandow) are experiencing some schadenfreude following the Dem Senate caucus's vote to strip Specter of his seniority on committees.
• Liberal bloggers (Greenwald, DougJ, Llorens, Cujo359) continue to criticize The New Republic's Jeffrey Rosen for writing an anonymously-sourced "hit piece" about Second Circuit judge/potential SCOTUS nominee Sonia Sotomayor. Other lefty bloggers (Moulitsas, Serwer, Yglesias, Klein, Attaturk) are criticizing MSNBC's Chris Matthews and The Washington Post's Richard Cohen for attacking Sotomayor's ruling in an affirmative action case.
• Conservative bloggers (Hinderaker, Reynolds, Lane) are accusing the Obama admin. of "bullying" Chrysler's bondholder firms.

PA SEN: With Dems Like These, Who Needs Republicans?

Liberal bloggers were amazed and disgusted that Specter told the New York Times that the MN courts should "do justice and declare Norm Coleman the winner" of the state's disputed Senate race:

• TPM's Eric Kleefeld: "Memo to Sen. Arlen Specter (RD-PA): You're supposed to be a Democrat now."
• MyDD's Todd Beeton: "I guess I gotta give Specter credit, with each passing day, he keeps making a stronger and stronger case for a primary challenge against him."
• digby: "What exactly was the deal [VP Joe] Biden and [Senate Maj. Leader Harry] Reid made with Specter anyway? That his new job was to trash the Democrats every chance he gets? It's bad enough that he goes on TV and declare that he's definitely not going to be a loyal Democrat. But this really takes the cake. [...] The man is a hypocritical Republican ass to the bottom of his soul and always will be."
• Open Left's Chris Bowers: "Not only is Specter still voting with Republicans, he is still make public statements on their behalf during elections. What a great deal for us so far."
• Daily Kos' Moulitsas: "Keep it up Arlen, your Joe Lieberman impersonation is so spot-on, that we can't wait to take you on in the Democratic primary. [...] But seriously, his arrogance is overwhelming, his obvious dislike for Democrats palpable. He's clearly telling us, 'I switched to avoid Toomey, not deal with you fucks.' And since Obama has clearly promised him support, come hell or high water (no matter how he little support or loyalty he delivers in return), he feels like he can shit on anyone with impunity. Personally, I don't want Specter around in 2011. So I want him to keep shitting on Dems, I want him to keep opposing EFCA and Obama's health care reform initiative, I want him to keep pretending that he's god's gift to the Senate. Because unlike Connecticut, there's no sore-loser option if he gets knocked off in the primary. And I'll take a real Democrat in that seat over that unprincipled turd of a man that is Specter. So Arlen, please keep it up."

Specter later claimed that he "misspoke" about the MN Senate race and that he's "looking for more Democratic members" of the Senate. However, liberal bloggers were not satisfied by his explanation:

• Moulitsas: "What the hell? He's so devoid of any conviction that one day, justice requires Coleman to be declared the winner, and the next day, it doesn't? [Specter]'s an empty, hollow, shell of a man. There is just one value that drives him -- political self-preservation. But we have one thing in common. We both are looking for more Democratic members. That's why I hope Sestak primaries his ass."
• The Washington Monthly's Steve Benen: "In other words, a Democratic senator, speaking to the New York Times, simply forgot he was a Democrat and repeated the Republican talking points he'd grown accustomed to. (They weren't even good talking points, since even most GOP leaders concede that Coleman is very likely to lose.)"
• Beeton: "A different day, a different party, what's a guy to do?"

PA SEN II: What The Heck Is Wrong With This Guy?

Liberal bloggers think Specter is making a political error by vocally opposing the Dems on so many issues, since he's encouraging a more progressive Dem to challenge him in the primary:

• Obsidian Wings' publius: "Specter is (uncharacteristically) making some enormous political errors by immediately opposing various Democratic positions so loudly. I don't really understand his thinking. There's no logic to it -- it's just bad politics, and it could cost him his seat. [...] If Specter's top priority over the next few months is supporting GOP preferences on Meet the Press, there's no reason PA Democrats should tolerate that. It'd be different if we were talking about Ben Nelson in Nebraska. But we're not -- PA is a solidly Democratic state. And Arlen Specter has no divine right to the Democratic nomination just because [PA Gov.] Ed Rendell and Joe Biden like him."
• TPM's Josh Marshall: "[T]here was some political logic to Specter not moving too quickly or fulsomely to embrace Democratic positions, especially since he'd spent the last few months tacking hard to the right. But what we've seen over the last week goes way, way beyond anything like that. He's dug in his heels opposing EFCA, said he'd oppose a key Obama DOJ appointee, staked out a surprisingly right-leaning (for him) position on health care reform and gone way past the first day bromides in signaling he won't have any partisan attachment at all to his new political party. His line about not being a 'loyal' Democrat, after he apparently said just the opposite to President Obama, seems like a high profile diss of the president. All of which is fine of course. He's free to do whatever he wants. But he doesn't seem to have grasped that his position wasn't actually that strong. [...W]hy do the Dems need Arlen, if probably any solid Democrat can beat Pat Toomey? [...] After watching the last week I get the sense [Specter]'s just too cocky for his own good."
• Atrios: "Josh [Marshall] is right that Arlen's cocky. Some of that is his personality. Some of that is the mental disorder that generally sets in after being a senator for a few decades. The other thing is that he's been remarkably successful at doing what he wants while engaging in enough bullshit to con the Philadelphia Inquirer editorial board every 6 in years into believing his 'moderate' bullshit. The only way to get him to do the right thing is to have a credible primary challenger in the wings, whether that's Sestak or someone else."

Moulitsas speculates about Specter's motives:

"[W]hy is he setting himself up to be judged by the Democratic primary electorate, and doing such a poor job of ingratiating himself with them? There are two possibilities:

(1.) Arlen plans on flipping on EFCA, and once he does, labor support locks him in the Democratic primary. He just can't flip too quickly because he would a) look even more unprincipled and craven than he already is, and b) he wouldn't be making headlines and be the center of attention, which he clearly loves. (He's making Lieberman really jealous).

(2.) Arlen got a deal from the Democrats that they'd clear the primary field for him, and Obama, Rendell, Biden, and the DSCC plan to do everything they can to deliver on that.

If it's #1 above, then he's in good shape. He just needs to flip already. But if it's #2, we're going to see the biggest split between the party establishment and the party's rank and file since the Connecticut 2006 Senate race. Heck, this one will be bigger. And it will be lots of fun -- the party bigwigs who think they can deprive the Democratic primary electorate of democracy versus a new net- and grassroots army taking control of their own destiny. I get shivers just thinking about it!"

PA SEN III: Keep Doing What You're Doing, Joe

Liberal bloggers are delighted that Sestak is making noises about challenging Specter in next year's Dem primary if Specter doesn't change some of his positions:

• Moulitsas: "The beauty of Sestak's approach is that it's a win-win -- 1) the threat of a serious challenge either gets Specter to switch on EFCA and other key progressive priorities, or 2) we get ourselves the race of the cycle and get to relive the glory days of the 2006 Connecticut Senate primary."
• dday: "Sestak loses nothing from calling out Specter -- even if he decides against running, he gains credibility as a Democrat enunciating Democratic principles, actually more credibility than he probably deserves -- later in the TPMDC interview he equivocates on the question of a public option for health care reform. But at this point, if Specter does end up voting the right way on health care or EFCA, Sestak gets at least some of the credit. [...] I could absolutely envision a scenario where Sestak has no real intention of running but is being used as a cattle prod to corral Specter."
• The Huffington Post's Mark Nickolas: "Until this weekend, I was generally supportive of Specter as the Democratic nominee next year. Now, after twice giving Democrats the finger in 48 hours, my feelings are rapidly evolving. While I have no love for the pompous and seemingly self-righteous Blue Dog Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA) who continues to make noise about challenging Specter -- despite promises from Obama, Gov. Ed Rendell (D-PA), and the DSCC to fully support Specter -- I might be able to live with the know-it-all Sestak after all."

Bowers: "If Sestak does run, he would be wise to wait at least another few weeks. First, he needs to clarify his position on a public health care option, which so far he has not supported. Second, he needs to see if Tom Ridge will run, and avoid being swamped by the media frenzy that would accompany such an announcement. Third, he needs to wait for the honeymoon Specter is feeling among Pennsylvania Democrats to wear off a bit, which normally takes a minimum of three weeks. Fourth, we all need to hear more about [PA businessman] Joe Toresella (what are his positions? will he stay in the campaign much longer?), as a divided primary field against Specter would probably make a challenge more difficult. All in all, he would be wise not to announce before Memorial Day."

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Rehabilitating Truman

The American Conservative's Daniel Larison (h/t Andrew Sullivan):

"Because the prevailing view of Harry Truman and his decisions at the present time happens to be favorable, we are all supposed to believe that the 'judgment of history' has 'vindicated' Truman. This is a nice way of saying that propaganda and hero worship have overcome moral reasoning, and time has caused the moral horror of even a significant part of the American right in the 1940s to fade from memory. This favorable view of Truman is inextricably tied up with the cult of the presidency, our depressing but all too human habit of praising bad wartime leaders at the expense of better peacetime executives, the mythologizing of WWII (and therefore the minimizing or justifying of any wrongdoing on the Allied side) and the implicit devaluing of Japanese civilian lives every defense of both fire-bombing and nuclear strikes includes. None of this seems to occur to the people who continue to glorify Truman and to use Truman as an example of how tainted, bad Presidents may yet be viewed as great successes by posterity. What Truman's posthumous rehabilitation should tell us is that half-truths and falsehoods, if repeated often enough, can become widely accepted, and that virtually no American political leader, no matter how many blunders he made and no matter what criminal acts he ordered, is beyond redemption at the hands of later sympathetic people who find that leader's decisions to be useful precedents for their own preferred course of action. The 'judgment of history' has, for the time being, ruled in favor of Truman, and therefore challenging this judgment is something to be mocked."

LEST WE FORGET: For Gay Couple, Fulfilling Lifelong Dream Of Marriage Not Worth Moving To Iowa

From The Onion:

"NEW YORK -- Having their sworn commitment to each other and all related rights therein recognized by the highest court of a sovereign U.S. state is ultimately not worth the hassle of moving to Iowa, longtime partners Danny Mindlin and Alex Small determined Monday. 'Alex and I want to grow old together, but we'd have to drive six hours just to get a mezzaluna at Restoration Hardware,' said Mindlin, who claimed he 'couldn't survive' without a strawberry frosted cupcake from Amy's Bread after yoga every Thursday. 'And where would we summer? Dubuque? I think we'll just buy a townhouse and live in an unrecognized union with beautiful granite countertops instead.' The couple told reporters that their plans to adopt also weighed heavily in the decision, since they want to raise a child who is healthy, balanced, and 'not tacky.'"