Word: democratic
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...several members of Congress were eyeing next year's contest, especially as it seemed more and more likely that Specter would lose to conservative activist and former Congressman Pat Toomey, who would be a much easier target in the increasingly Democratic state. Representatives Allyson Schwartz and Patrick Murphy were both being touted as probable candidates, though the leading contender was probably Representative Joe Sestak. Democrats say it seems unlikely now that any of the unannounced candidates will jump in; not only was Specter reportedly promised the full support of the national Democratic Party as part of his deal to switch...
...Just two weeks ago, Specter was at a fundraiser in Pittsburgh bemoaning his increasingly isolated status in the Republican caucus on Capitol Hill. "He was commenting, There are only three of us left, only three Republican moderates left," said Clifford Levine, a Democrat who coordinated President Obama's campaign in western Pennsylvania and who also happens to be an active Specter supporter. "They're all retired, forced out, and the Republican Party was in effect cannibalizing itself...
...Philadelphia-based strategist Larry Ceisler, a Democrat who has long supported Specter, said he had expected to see him make a bid as an independent, even though that is technically difficult under Pennsylvania law, and was taken aback by his complete switch of parties. That switch, he said, appears to be the loudest statement of disapproval Specter can make about the Republicans and not necessarily an endorsement of the Democrats. "I don't expect Arlen Specter to be any different as a Democrat than he was as a Republican ... He was a maverick Republican. He's going...
...package, Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson tried to cut the tension. He turned to the three Republicans in the room and said, "If only you'd consider switching sides, then we'd all be on the same team and this would be a lot easier." Looking back on that moment, Democrat Nelson recalls something that seems far more telling now than it did at the time: Arlen Specter was the only one of them who didn't laugh...
Maybe the Pennsylvania Senator knew he was bound to wind up on the other side of the aisle eventually. Democrats - including Vice President Joe Biden, with whom he had shared many a ride on Amtrak when they were both commuting Senators - had been wooing him for years. Specter, 79, had been a Democrat until 1965. But when his latest turnabout finally happened, it caught the entire capital by surprise and altered everyone's calculation of what is now possible. Assuming that the interminable Minnesota recount battle finally ends with Al Franken being awarded the Senate seat - he holds...