Legal Commentary

Specter Keeps Seniority at Expense of Established Democrats

By TChris

Politics, like life, is full of trade-offs. As Mick Jagger and Keith Richards reminded us long ago, You Can't Always Get What You Want. But in politics as in life, sometimes you can get what you want, particularly if you're in a superior bargaining position.

Arlen Specter apparently got what he wanted from Harry Reid: retention of the seniority he earned while serving on Senate committees as a Republican. In exchange, Reid got what he wanted: a new Democrat. Win-win? Not for Democrats who might get bumped by Specter's seniority.

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"I won't be happy if I don't get to chair something because of Arlen Specter," said Maryland Sen. Barbara Mikulski, who is fifth in seniority among Democrats on Appropriations behind Chairman Daniel K. Inouye (Hawaii), Sens. Robert C. Byrd (W.Va.), Patrick J. Leahy (Vt.) and Tom Harkin (Iowa). "I'm happy with the Democratic order, but I don't want to be displaced because of Arlen Specter," she said.

Politics, like life, isn't fair to everyone. Reid and Specter made a deal that should (if Specter behaves) serve the best interests of the Democratic Party, potentially at the expense of Democratic senators who may have to forgo committee positions they hoped or expected to receive after the next election.

Compromises and deal-making are part of the democratic process. This deal, like the one Reid made with Joe Lieberman, will likely cause some consternation when senators start a new round of musical (committee) chairs. Whether the Reid-Specter deal will create a benefit for the Democratic Party that outweighs the harm done to individual senators is yet unknown, but that's life. And politics.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on April 29, 2009 (boomark / email).