Robert Schlesinger Yesterday

Specter Party Switch Could Prove Problematic for Democrats

By Robert Schlesinger, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid used to get laughs at fundraisers, I'm told, by saying of erstwhile Republican Sen. Arlen Specter: He's always there when we don't need him (or words to that effect). Now Democrats have him regardless of whether they want him, but the question remains: Will he be there when they need him?

Beware what you wish for, my Democratic friends, the magical 60 figure may have more shine than heft.

Robert Schlesinger Yesterday

Specter Won't Face Schwartz in Democratic Primary After Party Switch

By Robert Schlesinger, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

Rep. Allyson Schwartz won't square off against Arlen Specter in a Democratic primary, though her House colleague Joe Sestak may yet do so.

"Congresswoman Schwartz even before this news came out was weighing whether or not to stay in the House," Rachel Magnuson told me. Magnuson said that Schwartz is interested in continuing to work on healthcare in the House. "So today she fully welcomes Senator Specter to the Democratic Party." And that means, for the record, that she is not going to use her $2.1 million to run against Specter.

Peter Roff Yesterday

Obama's 100 Days, Specter's Defection Show the Republican Party of "No" Must End

By Peter Roff, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

At the end of his first 100 days in office, President Barack Obama can look back on an extraordinary run of luck. He swept a change-oriented congressional majority into Congress with him, the ideological divisions within his party have been minimized and the Republicans are nearly prostrate over their failure to counter his proposals in anything resembling an effective way.

John Aloysius Farrell Yesterday

Specter Party Switch Hurts Democrats and Republicans Alike

By John Aloysius Farrell, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

Sen. Arlen Specter's defection may sound like great news for Democrats and Team Audacity.

But in the long run, it could be bad for the Obama administration, and bad for the country.

The big thing the Democrats suffer from now is arrogance. The big thing that Republicans suffer from is ideological rigidity.

Specter's defection reinforces both trends.

The task of pulling the country back from destructive polarization is now a little tougher. And Barack Obama, the guy who got elected saying he would lead that charge, has been mostly AWOL.

As a liberal, maybe I should be happy. But as a civil libertarian and a student of history—with many years experience watching the jokers in Washington—I revere the checks and balances that those 18th-century geniuses built into our political system.

Another Northeast Republican is gone.

The Democrats are a little bit more unchecked this evening, and the Republicans more unbalanced.

Mary Kate Cary Yesterday

Christopher Buckley Adopts George and Barbara Bush--Genius!

By Mary Kate Cary, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

As time goes on, George and Barbara Bush are becoming more and more beloved. One of my favorite writers and a fellow Bush #41 speechwriter, Christopher Buckley, proves it by adopting them as his parents (unofficially). The rest of us are jealous that we didn't think of it first.

Bonnie Erbe Yesterday

In First 100 Days, Obama Takes Criticism From All Sides

By Bonnie Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street blog.

Call me a cynic (you can't beat me to it, I've already claimed the mantle), but too much is being made about President Obama's first hundred days in office. There is much more media hype, for example, than I remember being made about President George W. Bush's first hundred, or Clinton's before that, or H.W. Bush's before that. Can't we just let history happen before we report it to death, determine its meaning 10,000 years from now, compare its impact to similar historical events and move along to overexposing the next media event?

Peter Roff April 27, 2009

Tea Parties Outside the Beltway Hold the Key to a Republican Comeback

By Peter Roff, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

When the Democrats lost control of Congress in 1994, they assumed it was a fluke. That Bill Clinton's embarrassing missteps on energy taxes, midnight basketball, healthcare, and other issues had cost them control of the Senate and, for the first time in 40 years, the U.S. House of Representatives.

The Democrats assumed they would be out of power for just a little while. Well, as we know, it turned out to be just a little bit longer than that.

Bonnie Erbe April 27, 2009

Abortion Foe's Planned Parenthood YouTube Trap Is Dishonest and Pointless

By Bonnie Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street blog.

The Los Angeles Times has a story about a 20-something abortion foe who videotapes counseling sessions at Planned Parenthood clinics in which she poses as a 13-year-old impregnated by an older man:

John Aloysius Farrell April 27, 2009

An "A" for Obama's First 100 Days...Not That It Matters

By John Aloysius Farrell, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

I will give Barack Obama an "A" for the first grading period, realizing that it doesn't mean a thing.

A hundred days was a meaningful way to measure Napoleon's return to France, but only because it took that long for the British and the Prussians to gather their armies and meet his at Waterloo. The climactic battle made the time frame meaningful.

Obama has not had a climactic battle. And the real results of the skirmishes he has won (chiefly, the stimulus package) are still months or years away.