Tuesday, April 28, 2009
The Temptation of Specter
Posted By Eric S. Peterson on April 28, 2009, 5:23 PM
With Arlen Specter bailing his party with plans to run as democrat in 2010, by leaving the GOP he’s presented the democratic majority with great opportunity…for either the ability to push a grand progressive agenda, or to set the party up for one damned, ornery conservative backlash.
With Franken likely to be seated and Specter switching sides, the democrats will have their filibuster-proof majority. And all the more power because of it. Yet with a moderate republican transformed into a mildly conservative, blue-dog democrat, Obama will be facing a congress with a minority party likely to bunker down and move further to the right.
This is fine if Obama can pull off some measure of success in the next few years--especially with the economy. In which case the Republican Party will be rendered even more irrelevant, and the conservative party that emerges from the election will be a much more moderate one. More gay and enviro-friendly, perhaps even in the Huntsman mold.
But if Obama screws up this term, the kill-proof republicans that survive will come out of hiding with mutant-like conservative strength, exacting their small gov’ and family-values revenge with renewed vigor.
Stakes are pretty high, and the temptation to use all that senatorial power must be huge. But if the democrats can’t control themselves and their agenda, they’ll come to regret the ass-kicking they will only have given themselves--just as much as the republicans are still smarting from the last election.
Only time will tell.
On Topic...
-
Film Reviews: New Releases for April 19
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, Abigail, The Beast, Hard Miles, Sasquatch Sunset and more
- Apr 19, 2024
-
Film Reviews: New Releases for April 12
Civil War, Escape from Germany, Coup de Chance, Hundreds of Beavers, La Chimera, Sting
- Apr 11, 2024
-
Film Reviews: New Releases for April 5
Monkey Man, The First Omen, Wicked Little Letters, Girls State, Scoop, Exhuma
- Apr 4, 2024
- More News » More Culture »
More by Eric S. Peterson
-
The Secret Sauce
How Utah lawmakers disclose—or don't disclose—conflicts of interest.
- Feb 14, 2024
-
Police departments in Salt Lake County spent almost $20 million on civil rights complaints in the past decade
The Co$t of Mi$conduct
- Oct 18, 2023
-
Women decry harassment and toxic culture at St. George auto dealership
Men at Work
- Oct 11, 2023
- More »
Latest in Buzz Blog
