What Thinks the Knuttel?: A Specter Hangs Over Pennsylvania

Ok, so the original line was "a specter hangs over Europe," but then it wouldn't be about Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter.

I guess it's about a month ago now (shit have I put this off) that Specter was defeated in the Democratic Primary for re-election to his Senate seat. Oddly enough, he had switched parties about a year earlier because odds were he wasn't going to win the Republican nomination. Damnit, Pat Toomey just had to run EVERY SINGLE DAMN TIME against him. What does he even do anyway, except act as nemesis? Whatevs.

Anyways, Specter's career in politics is hella long, as he is hella old. He started out as a Philadelphia democrat, then switched parties so he could win the position of Philadelphia District Attorney. Around this time he came up with the famous "magic bullet" theory for the assassination of Jack Kennedy. Yes, Arlen Specter is hella old, that has already been established. He eventually got into his Senate Seat in 1981.

Think about that -- Senator from 1981 - 2011. That is 5 terms. That is more terms than any other Pennsylvania Senator has held.

In this time he forged a path as a defiant moderate -- clashing with his own party on major topics such as Bork's Supreme Court nomination and President Clinton's impeachment hearings.

However, in the end, it seemed he started to lose his identity. While a major party switch would seem an identity defining moment for most politicans, his seemed more out of frustration, lashing out against a party that didn't seem to want him. The Arlen Specter we Pennsylvanians knew would have stuck out in his old party and kicked the whipper snappers ass, alas political climate has changed since the 80s and 90s, and primaries just don't care for moderates anymore. It would appear primaries hate America, by extension, or at the very least a working democratic process.

In the end, whoever takes this seat from Specter will have big shoes to fill. Toomey seems to have only an "anti" definition, which I don't usually like in electoral politics (when you're running for a position, I usually think you should stand for things, rather than against them). Sestak is unproven, I think. We don't really know what we'll get from him, politically speaking that is. He has a long and very illustrious career in the US Navy, where he attained the rank of Rear Admiral. His selection was possibly largely due to an overarching dissatisfaction with incumbents, as Specter had virtually every "established" endorsement a politician can get.

As he is old, hella old, I suspect his political career is over, much like Bob Dole's political career basically ended when he lost the '96 Presidential Campaign to Bill Clinton.

So here's to whatever.

-- Knuttel