Dana Milbank of the Washington Post has written an Ode to Arlen, in which he (Milbank) decries the loss of Specter's "independence" from parties and his votes of "conscience" rather than ideology. Oh--and Milbank yet again reminds us that widening party ideologies are the root of all evil in politics today.
I've got another theory for Dana. Maybe voters--evidently of both parties--have the temerity to think that when they vote for someone of their party--that person will largely vote with that party's majority. That he or she will support the President of that party. Yes of course, there will be "conscience" votes, but party voters tend to think such votes will be rare. Make too many of them, and your political future will necessarily be in doubt.
Maybe voters just realized that they couldn't trust Arlen Specter.
Maybe voters just realized that they couldn't trust Arlen Specter.
ReplyDeleteYes, apparently this is something on which democrats and republicans both agree.
Dana Milbank reinforces daily my perception that people who can't make it in the real world either end up going to Hollywood to live in a fake one created for them, or to a Washington Post or NY Times to create one for themselves.
ReplyDeletePlus, and I'll admit this is even more petty than my comment above, but the thing I really dislike the most about him is that he has such a "Mommy, they stole my lunch money again" face.
If there ever was a Washington insider, a practitioner of the art of politics, a Machiavellian, it's Arlen Specter. The guy was shameless, devoid of scruples or honor or a sense of duty.
ReplyDeleteScrew him!