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Arlen Specter's party switch last week either made the Democratic Party or destroyed it. Why? Because as I point out in my latest newspaper column, he eliminates Democrats' last remaining excuse for inaction: The 60-vote threshold to stop a filibuster.
The fact is, Specter's declaration that he isn't going to change any of his votes doesn't give Democrats any cover anymore. Because Democrats and progressive-leaning media megaphones trumpeted Specter's switch as giant news (rather than what it really was - relatively small news about a guy making a local primary maneuver to stay in office), the regular non-political-junkie American knows only one thing out of the whole affair: Democrats now have the votes to push anything they want through the Congress.
That is verifiably true: If/when Al Franken is seated, Democrats have 60 votes to overcome any Republican filibuster. The problem is that it's also true that, as the recent cramdown vote showed, Democrats have about 10-15 senators who regularly vote like corporate Republicans. The further problem is that no Democratic Party leader can really come out and state that latter truism because those 10-15 senators are officially Democrats. Put another way, no Democratic Party leader can publicly blame his/her own party for gridlock, even if it is his/her own party that is creating the gridlock.
So there are two possible outcomes: Either Democratic leaders are going to do what it takes to make sure 60 senate votes are mustered to overcome filibusters of the biggest issues, and Democrats will have a long-lasting majority. Or, Democratic leaders won't do what it takes, major Democratic promises won't be fulfilled, and voters will get pissed off and - at some point - throw them out.
Obviously, I'm hoping for the former, not the latter, and I'm optimistic that the former can come true because of expectations. Democratic leaders know that they now have no excuses - and they know that without excuses, they have to deliver. In other words, they know that with 60 senate votes, voters expect them to shit or get off the pot.
Read the whole column here.
The column relies on grassroots support - and because of that support, it is getting wider and wider circulation (a big thank you to all who have helped with that). So if you'd like to see my column regularly in your local paper, use this directory to find the contact info for your local editorial page editors. Get get in touch with them and point them to my Creators Syndicate site. Thanks, as always, for your ongoing readership and help contacting local editors. This column couldn't be what it is without your help.
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