The Tea Partiers bagged their first senator today when Bob Bennett lost his bid to even appear on the ballot in November. In ten days, Arlen Specter may suffer the same humiliation at the hands of Pennsylvania’s mainstream Democrats. Sestak has moved ahead of him in the tracking poll. I’m all for tossing these folks out but it will make the senate even more dysfunctional. I’m sure Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) will be even more of a pain in the ass than Jim Bunning. Whatever loon wins the Republican primary in Utah is going to go to Washington with a bug up their ass about eliminating the federal government and its debt. And people will wonder where the civility went.
About The Author

BooMan
Martin Longman a contributing editor at the Washington Monthly. He is also the founder of Booman Tribune and Progress Pond. He has a degree in philosophy from Western Michigan University.
Is there some term we can coin that equates these idiots with terrorists? I mean just the thought of what they will bring to the hallowed floors of our Congress brings shivers to my spine.
What SPECIFICALLY has Arlene Specter done that has “mainstream” Democrats wanting to vote him out of office and possibly hand that seat to a Republican in November? Are they upset that he turned AGAINST Republicans and became the 60th vote for Democrats and became a reliable vote on ALL major Democratic initiatives? He hasn’t caused any trouble since switching parties. Sestak on the other hand went running his ass to the press that the White House tries to “pay him off”. Yeah, he’s really self-less and trustworthy.
The one thing bi-partisan in this country is the political insanity and childishness.
My sense of it is that if Specter is returned to the Senate in November, he will revert to his old ways.
I’m just an observer, but it does seem that the White House has tried to clear the decks for Arlen.
Personally, my beef with Arlen is Clarence Thomas.
How much experience does Sestak have running statewide and against the full weight of the Republican Party? For good or bad, we know what we are getting with Specter. You wonder what the White House and the PA Democratic establishment know about Sestak that they are so afraid of him running in a statewide election?
You wonder what the White House and the PA Democratic establishment know about Sestak that they are so afraid of him running in a statewide election?
Have you not learned anything? Do you have any idea what the incumbent protection racket is?
No, just reading the tea leaves. I do know that both parties conduct dirt digging on all prospective candidates, for offense and defense. And typically when a party’s leadership is this aggressive in blocking a candidacy it’s usually because they know there is some shit out there that will stick or the candidate does not have the political skills to ably deflect or acquit him or herself. This would be a hell of a pick-up for Republicans, and they are not going to pull any punches. Can Sestak withstand the assault? Can he limit his unforced errors? From what I’ve seen thus far, I say NO! Sestak has given the GOP potentially fatal amunition in charging the White House with effectively bribing him. That’s the question he will be asked every single day of the campaign. It paints Democrats and the White House has corrupt, making it difficult for his best surrogate, the President, to campaign for him. He’s guaranteed his entire campaign will be on the defensive before it even begins. Sorry, my glasses aren’t a progressive shade of rose.
I really don’t get your answer. What ammo has Sestak given Republicans? Have you seen Specter’s attack on Sestak? They are weak sauce. And no, party leadership doesn’t have to give any reason for blocking a candidacy. Besides, they can pick shitty candidates(See Lois Murphy here in PA-06).
Well, one could ask the same question re: Halter and Lincoln, making clear that Calvin Jones and 13th Apostle has (have?) your answer.
the only reason he’s been “a reliable vote on ALL major Democratic initiatives” has more to do with the fact that when he switched sides, he lost his seniority. the understanding was that he could keep his seats on influential committees, but in a “junior position”, according to this article in wapo a year ago.
from the same article,
arlen’s always been about arlen, and if he wins re-election, and regains his seniority l would posit he’ll become more lieberman-esque and therefore, a major thorn in the democratic caucuses side for the remainder of his tenure.
l’d sooner take my chances on sestak than a newly empowered specter, but l don’t live in PA.
Specter is an interesting figure. Certainly not perfect, but in a strange way, responsive to the zeitgeist – as evidenced when he switched parties after Obama and the Democrats did well in 2008.
I have had problems with the guy, but on the whole think he’d be responsive to whatever the Obama White House wants. Unlike Lieberman, who seems to not give a damn that Obama pulled for him last year, Specter is a decent fellow.
Also, in the general election, I think Specter is a more certain win against the Republican challenger. He’s old, but not a doddering old fool (e.g. Bunning), and my guess is that he’s considered something of a Pennsylvania institution by people in that state.
So you are saying that Sestak can’t win the general election, no matter what “loon” the Republicans run?
Correction: I guess the loon is Toomey and you are saying that Sestak can’t beat Toomey. Is that correct?
Uh, no. I’m not saying that. Sestak can probably win against Toomey, but it will be a serious competition.
You really think so? Sestak is already polling near even with him – last I saw they were both around 40 – with a really low name ID. That, and the entire PA Democratic machine is behind Specter right now, if Sestak wins, they’ll get behind him.
Oh the flip side, you have Specter, a mutli-decade incumbent running in an anti-incumbent year, AFTER he made a part switch under the cynical (and voices) calculation that it would mean he could get reelected.
If you feel that final ad by Sestak has any effect on the primary race, you better believe it will sink Specter in the GE.
Not if Rahm Emanuel has anything to say about it. Rahm loves Blue Dogs and hates Liberals. It wouldn’t be the first time that he withheld support from a Liberal running against a Republican.
Rahm has more pull in House races. Has he really started getting that involved in Senate races now? Or has left that up to Menendez and Kaine?
“And people will wonder where the civility went.”
I began to wonder seriously about that very thing about the time the Georgia voters turned down Max Cleland’s senate bid.
Meanwhile, McClatchy, at least , thinks there’s still a glimmer of hope for a little senate statesmanship. We’ll see how that works out. The last whiny little man who got himself elected to county council here was duly marginalized by both parties. He’s been in a political “time-out” for about three years and just lost his primary for re-election. Buh-bye sucker, too bad you never got a clue.
Suggestion for Senate leadership: If any of these asses survive the general election, a good place for office space would probably be a dark closet off one of the boiler rooms.
Sestak is ideologically a good match for Pennsylvania, a veteran campaigner, a charismatic politician, and has an extremely strong electoral base in the powerful Philadelphia area (which will also balance out the Democratic ticket overall, since we’re likely going to have a Pittsburgh candidate for the governors race). I worry that he runs his staff too hard, though. They’re treated like dogs from what I hear, and I don’t want them to be burned out by election night.
Kentucky will be a tossup if Paul is the nominee.
Arizona will be the same if Hayworth bests McCain, which I suspect he will as there’s still a lot of time until that primary.
Ohio looks like it will tilt toward Fischer, although Brunner was definitely more electable.
Missouri has looked good for us all along, I suspect we’ll win here.
Indiana is a Republican fuck-up waiting to happen. I like our chances here, and I thought we’d lose for sure when I saw the nominee.
Reid’s chances of holding on in Nevada just received a massive boost, especially with Sue Lowden’s chickens for checkups thing. He’s also been on fire with financial reform.
Iowa and North Carolina are both possible for us to win, especially if Marshall is the candidate for NC.
Melancon might be within striking distance by November, and I suspect Hodes will win despite the polls.
I’m not sure about Delaware, as I haven’t seen any polling.
I don’t know why everyone else is so glum. We have practically a decade in political time to make up for any bad polls. However, I’m not sure how OFA is doing with their GOTV. Has Obama got their asses in gear already?
what do you think about NH?
Hodes will win despite the polls. NH is tricky because they’re like Wisconsin and Minnesota: they’ll elect far-left liberals, and far-right Republicans. They like strong candidates, people who remain firm in their convictions. However, NH is also probably the most libertarian state in the union, way more-so than Alaska. Iunno, something in my gut tells me that Paul Hodes will be the next senator from New Hampshire, no matter what the polls say. He looked a lot better in the beginning, but Rasmussen has Hodes within single digits. I don’t know much about his campaign. I’ll have to ask some of my connections from NH what they think about him as a campaigner and what part of the state his support is going to come from.
Thanks. A couple days ago I tried to update myself via Blue Hampshire and saw Kelly Ayotte has been caught in some “gate” of some sort including which she, against policy, deleted all her emails when leaving office. Did not have time to unravel what it is about, however, but my hope is it will be very damaging.
I have no liking for Rand Paul, but he’ll be even more of a pain in the ass than Bunning? How? Maybe you remember Bunning doing something that wasn’t contemptible. I don’t. Assuming little Paul shares his daddy’s notions, he might even be some help on issues like the military budget, campaign reform, leaving Iraq/Afghanistan, and a limited set of civil liberties.
As to a more dysfunctional Senate, how is that even imaginable? Maybe these loose cannons will be the kick in the ass to return some rationality to the rules when the ruling duopoly sees their royal prerogatives being turned against them. Civility? You mean maybe they’ll even investigate the endless betrayals and crimes committed by their own? Or actually prioritize their constituents over the feelings of their colleagues? That sure would be a shame.