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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: Arlen Specter

Arlen Specter stories: 80 news summaries

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Coleman Gaffe Costs Specter Seniority on Senate Panels

Dems disappoint defector with junior slots after he speaks up for Coleman

May 6, 09 3:10 AM CDT
(Newser) - Party-switcher Arlen Specter's comment that Republican Norm Coleman should be Minnesota's senator cost him seniority on Senate panels yesterday, a source told Politico. His gaffe was the final straw for Senate Dems already angry about the prospect of being bumped from senior positions by the 29-year senator. A resolution last... More »

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Senate • Senate Democrats • Senate Judiciary Committee • Arlen Specter • Senate committees

OPINION

 What the GOP Needs 
 Is a Bill Clinton 

Douthat: Way out of this mess is to find a new breed of moderate

May 5, 09 9:28 AM CDT
(Newser) - Republican moderates like Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe, and Arlen Specter are right that the GOP has a hole in the center, writes Ross Douthat in the New York Times. The problem is that they’re not the right kind of centrists to fill it. Yankee Republican moderates are either just... More »

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Bill Clinton • Arlen Specter • Republican Party • centrist • Gary Hart • moderate • Ross Douthat

Specter Enjoys 20-Point Lead Over Toomey

But Tom Ridge would be a stiffer challenge if he nabbed GOP nom

May 4, 09 11:44 AM CDT
(Newser) - Arlen Specter beat Pat Toomey 53% to 33% in a Quinnipiac poll of Pennsylvanians’ preferred candidate for US senator. But against Tom Ridge, who may become the Republican candidate, Specter's lead grows more precarious—voters prefer Specter to Ridge by a margin of 46% to 43%, the Quinnipiac poll showed.... More »

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Republican • Senate • Arlen Specter • Pennsylvania • Democrat • governor • Quinnipiac University • Tom Ridge • Pat Toomey

OPINION

 Media Let 
 Specter Off 
 the Hook 

Didn't he sort of betray voters?

May 4, 09 7:26 AM CDT
(Newser) - When the Arlen Specter story broke last week, “most journalists assumed the role of handicappers,” writes Howard Kurtz of the Washington Post. The value-neutral reporting focused on how powerful this would make Democrats, and what it meant for the wilderness-dwelling Republicans. “Little attention was devoted to... More »

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media • Arlen Specter • Republican Party • American media • media bias

 Specter: I'll 
 Filibuster the 
 Dems If Needed 

Former Republican says GOP let him down

May 3, 09 11:53 AM CDT
(Newser) - Arlen Specter may be a Democrat now, but the erstwhile Republican senator says he’s not afraid to use the F-word: filibuster, Politico reports. Specter told NBC’s Meet the Press he hasn’t promised to be “a loyal Democrat” and made the switch after realizing through “polls... More »

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Democrats • Arlen Specter • filibuster • US Senate • Republicans

OPINION

 Dowd: GOP 
 Has Short 
 Memory 

'Quaint' calls for balance follow reign of 'Boy Emperor'

May 3, 09 10:57 AM CDT
(Newser) - As their party contracts with the defection of Arlen Specter, the GOP is complaining about a disappearing balance of power: “How quaint,” writes Maureen Dowd in the New York Times—this from the party whose “arrogant” previous administration “did its best to undermine checks and balances.... More »

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Bush administration • torture • Condoleezza Rice • Arlen Specter • Constitution • Maureen Dowd • professor • waterboarding • George W. Bush • President Obama • balance of power

TALK SHOW ROUNDUP

 Sebelius: Never 
 Mind Biden; 
 It's OK to Travel 

Newest cabinet member seeks to allay swine flu fears

May 3, 09 10:19 AM CDT
(Newser) - President Obama’s new Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius made the talk show rounds today, insisting that people should continue traveling, despite remarks to the contrary by Joe Biden. “Traveling and being in close places is certainly something we encourage people to continue to do,” she... More »

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Mitt Romney • Joe Biden • travel • Health and Human Services • Arlen Specter • Patrick Leahy • Kathleen Sebelius • swine flu

analysis

Chatty Joe Provides 100+ Days of Gaffes

The veep has his
uses, but staying on message ain't one

May 1, 09 8:23 AM CDT
(Newser) - This week perfectly illustrates the yin and yang of Joe Biden, write Sam Youngman and Ian Swanson of the Hill. First, he scores a political coup by helping to convince pal Arlen Specter to defect. Then he promptly inserts foot in mouth with his advice on how to avoid the... More »

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Joe Biden • Arlen Specter • vice president • gaffe • Obama administration • Robert Gibbs • swine flu

OPINION

Republicans Building Big, Empty Tent: Noonan


May 1, 09 8:02 AM CDT
(Newser) - With Arlen Specter gone, it’s time for the "latest round of What Should the Republican Party Do," writes Peggy Noonan in the Wall Street Journal. Call Specter an opportunist if you want, “but opportunists tell you something: which side is winning.” The Republican party... More »

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conservative • Arlen Specter • Republican Party • Peggy Noonan

Republicans Play Blame Game Over Specter

Steele, Club for Growth in crosshairs

Apr 30, 09 8:33 AM CDT
(Newser) - Arlen Specter’s departure has set off a wave of finger pointing within the Republican Party, Politico reports. Some blame Specter for not having the ideological purity to stick with the party. But others single out various Republicans they claim helped push Specter out the door, from Michael Steele, who... More »

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Republican • Arlen Specter • Republican Party • Pat Toomey • Club for Growth

OPINION

 Meghan: Specter Bailed on Us 

Party needs progressive voices, she says

Apr 30, 09 8:28 AM CDT
(Newser) - Arlen Specter has let the GOP down, but only because Republicans did the same, Meghan McCain writes for the Daily Beast. “He’s been made to feel like an outcast by a small, vocal group,” says McCain, herself familiar with the “tired rhetoric” now being hurled at... More »

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GOP • Arlen Specter • Republican Party • Meghan McCain • progressive • Michael Steele

Dems in a Snit Over Specter's Cozy Deal

Senate honchos fume as newbie prepares to leapfrog to top jobs

Apr 30, 09 2:20 AM CDT
(Newser) - Some top Democratic senators are rebelling against the deal that brought Arlen Specter into the fold, the Hill reports. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told the aisle-crosser he could keep the 28 years of seniority he gained as a GOP senator, infuriating long-serving Democrats whom Specter will now likely leapfrog... More »

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Senate • Harry Reid • Senate Democrats • Senate Judiciary Committee • Arlen Specter • Senate Appropriations Committee • party politics • switching parties

 Biden Wooed Specter for Years 


Apr 29, 09 10:49 AM CDT
(Newser) - Joe Biden is the Democrat perhaps most responsible for Arlen Specter’s defection, Politico reports. The VP told a crowd yesterday that he had been trying to convince the Pennsylvania Republican “that he is really a Democrat” for more than 20 years. Specter's onetime Senate colleague recently stepped up... More »

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Joe Biden • Senate Democrats • Arlen Specter • Senate Republicans • vice president • Obama administration • switching parties

Analysis

Rendell Gets Machiavellian in Specter Switch

Senate ambitions may have played role in governor's courtship

Apr 29, 09 10:09 AM CDT
(Newser) - Arlen Specter’s party switch was a "seriously Machiavellian" move by Joe Biden and, particularly, Gov. Ed Rendell, writes Eleanor Clift of Newsweek. Biden’s self-interest in the matter is obvious: Specter represents the all-important 60th Senate vote. But the "gregarious, ambitious" Rendell, an even closer... More »

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Joe Biden • Senate • Arlen Specter • Pennsylvania • Ed Rendell • Democratic Party

(Newser) - Arlen Specter’s departure is a “tremendous loss” for the Republican party, made “all the more painful because I believe it didn’t have to be this way,” Sen. Olympia Snowe writes in the New York Times. The party ought to have learned its lesson when... More »

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Arlen Specter • Olympia Snowe • Republican Party

OPINION

 Newt to Specter: 
 Good Riddance 


Apr 29, 09 7:18 AM CDT
(Newser) - Newt Gingrich’s take on Arlen Specter’s defection? Don’t let the door hit you on the way out, senator. Specter left the party “in spirit” when he cast his vote for “a $787 billion big-spending bill no elected official had even read,” the former speaker... More »

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Newt Gingrich • Arlen Specter • Olympia Snowe • Republican Party

analysis

Silver: Specter Will Shift Left, But Not Too Far


Apr 28, 09 9:46 PM CDT
(Newser) - Now that Arlen Specter is flying the Democratic colors, his new party can expect a tangible—if modest—change in his voting behavior, writes Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight.com. "Democrats have ample reason to be pleased," writes Silver, who crunched the numbers of all previous congressional party-switchers. "... More »

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Senate • GOP • Arlen Specter • Pennsylvania • Democrat • party politics

(Newser) - Rush Limbaugh thinks erstwhile Republican Arlen Specter should take some “other people who aren't really Republicans” to the other side of the aisle, CNN reports. “Take McCain and his daughter with you,” a laughing Limbaugh said today. Though he said Specter's party switch was “ultimately good”... More »

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John McCain • Senate • Rush Limbaugh • Arlen Specter • Republican Party • Meghan McCain

Specter: I'm Not 'Automatic 60th Vote' for Dems

GOP colleagues 'stunned,' angered by senator's party switch

Apr 28, 09 3:14 PM CDT
(Newser) - Newly minted Democrat Arlen Specter said he will not blindly toe the party line, Politico reports. “I will not be an automatic 60th vote,” the veteran Pennsylvania senator said, pointing out recent opposition to a unionization bill. “If the Democratic Party asks too much, I will not... More »

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Congress • RNC • Senate • Senate Democrats • Arlen Specter • Pennsylvania • Senate Republicans • John Cornyn • senator • 2010 election • Michael Steele • switching parties

ANALYSIS

Defector Specter Just Playing to Pa. Primary Politics

Shrewd senator had no future as a Republican

Apr 28, 09 2:47 PM CDT
(Newser) - Why did Arlen Specter defect? It’s tempting to paint Specter as part of a post-Obama ideological realignment, but there’s a much more concrete explanation, Eric Kleefeld writes for Talking Points Memo: reelection. Pennsylvania is a closed-primary state, and between 150,000 and 200,000 registered Republicans switched parties... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Barack Obama • Republican • GOP • Arlen Specter • Democrat • defection • electability • President Obama

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