On The Senate, Post Election 2004
Of Senator's Spector, Dodd and Reid

Washington is now in the process of "Righting" itself -- quite literally -- after the resounding Republican House and Senate gains, as well as the GOP's decisive victory over Senator John Kerry and the defeat of the sitting Senate Minority Leader, Tom Daschle (wow). Public Enemy number one is, it appears, an old favorite conservative bedbug, Senator Arlen Specter.

Conservatives hate Arlen Specter. Loathe him, really. According to the Washington Times Insider today:

"Senate Republicans are speculating behind the scenes on ways to prevent one of their own -- Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania -- from becoming the next chairman of the Judiciary Committee. Long a thorn in the side of conservatives, Mr. Specter further outraged many Republicans this week when he told reporters that President Bush should be 'mindful' not to send pro-life judicial nominees to the Judiciary Committee for confirmation when he takes control of the committee in January.

"'We are looking at a variety of ways to keep the gavel from going to Arlen Specter,' said one Republican Judiciary Committee staffer."

That definitely sounds ominous in a city where off the record implied threats are taken seriously. The Old Gray Lady, on the spector of a Specter spanking:

"The outpouring (of anti-Spector sentiment) illustrated how the party's conservative wing has been emboldened by the White House victory and the strengthening of Republican majorities in Congress, potentially raising new hazards for moderate Republicans who might want to break from the president or House and Senate leadership on major issues.

"Some Republicans on Capitol Hill said the attempt to quickly exert that influence could work in Mr. Specter's favor. They said that after an energizing election, senators would not necessarily want their first action to be jetisoning Mr. Specter under pressure from outside groups. 'We need to show some discipline and not overreact,'' one said."

This intramural Republican Party conflagration, which, incidentally occurs parallel to the phenomenon of the Demoratic Party soul search as to who to blame for their loss, should be interesting to watch, considering that the President's first post-election speeches have delicately (and, quite frankly, deftly) walked the fine line between the spending of the "political capital" of his well earned 3 million vote plus margin of victory in the popular vote, and "bring(ing) the country together."

Those two promises were made on, respectively, the day of his first post-election victory official news conference, and the day he accepted John Kerry's concession speech (the morning after the election) Arlen Spector may just be the one politician in the world -- and he was born under the sun sign of the ultra-unpredictable, quirky and original Aquarius -- to put the President's difficult competing promises to the test. In fact, the role of Arlen Specter is almost organically suited to serve as a sort of bellwether of moderate mood in the country, he would be well served as the President's personal gadfly on the issue of the divisions within our country and of his duty and promise to be a uniter not a divider.

Will President George Bush allow Spector to head Judiciary against the vehement wishes of his base? Such a move could unite the Moderate wing of the party as well as independents and forge a coalition to last a generation, though it is sure to anger his base, so expertly mobilized by Karl Rove in the 2004 election. Will George Bush and Spector manage a cordial relationship as, quite possibly, 3 or 4 Supreme Court Justices are shuttled through Judiciary? Is George Bush capable of holding the middle and his base -- if he can, this would be masterful diplomacy denied by no one.

Will Spector be tempted to join or forge alliances with the Democrats (that would be a very unpredictable and --therefore -- "Aquarian" thing to do)? Time will tell.

Frankly, The Corsair believes a compelling strategy on the part of Democratic Senators, now virtually decimated at their losses of seats in the South, would be to coopt Bush and forge an alliance with the Moderate Republicans -- Jeffords, Snowe, Specter, John Warner, etc (Ed note: McCain appears to be leaning in the direction of running for President in 2008, and, thus, will probably not cause any waves for the Republican Party, in hopes of a clean primary) -- that are almost certainly going to get squeezed by the principled, yet somewhat uncompromising emerging conservative majority within the Senate.

It can be done, a moderate-Democrat alliance; though The Corsair is fairly sure that Karl Rove is on top of that possibility, has that angle covered, and that that was the main reasoning behind the Bush's "bring the country together" speech on Day 1 after the election. The Corsair has even come up with a catchy new name for such an alliance of said Moderate Republican Senators in the event, however unlikely, "The Moderate Majority."

Among the despirited Senate Democrats, The Hill's Geoff Earle writes:

"Although Daschle had been considered highly vulnerable, many in his party had been convinced that the Senates most prominent Democrat would find a way to pull out a win. No Senate leader had been defeated in more than 50 years.

"Senate Minority Whip Harry Reid (D-Nev.) stepped in immediately after Daschles defeat, telling Nevada reporters yesterday that he had secured at least 30 assurances of support from fellow Democrats, enough to succeed Daschle when Senate Democrats meet to reorganize Nov. 16.Reid appeared to be put on a clear path toward victory when Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) told reporters yesterday that he would not challenge Reid, saying a contested race 'would be very harmful to our party at this juncture.'"

Which is a politic way of saying Harry Reid ate Chris Dodd's lunch -- well, he did -- which is not an easy thing to do, as Dodd, recently elected to his fifth term in the Senate, is, with the possible exception of the superhumanly ambitious Bill Richardson, a hugely effective veteran player.

It appears Dodd is hitching his wagon up to the latest shooting star for Democrats -- Governorships, as the Old Gray Lady writes:

" ... Mr. Dodd is turning his attention to the idea of helping Democrats reclaim the governorship of Connecticut after nearly a decade of Republican rule in Hartford, according to leading Democrats who have discussed the matter with him.

"Should Mr. Dodd choose to make a run for governor, he would be among three Democratic senators from the New York region giving thought to such a leap, particularly in the wake of Tuesday's elections, when Republicans expanded their majority in the Senate with a net gain of four seats. "The other two, Senator Jon Corzine of New Jersey and Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York, are said to be despirited over their continued minority status - as well as the reality that their party does not appear to have a shot at winning the majority any time soon. "Mr. Dodd, Mr. Schumer and Mr. Corzine are highly ambitious men. Their potential departure from the Hill underscores how impotent Democrats now feel in Washington.

"'People are just giving up,' said one Democratic strategist who has been a key adviser to Senate and House candidates from the New York region. 'They're realizing that they may be able to accomplish a lot more from a governor's mansion than from Capitol Hill.'"

Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, by the way, is a nightmarishly horrible choice for the Democrats, he is waay too red-state by a whisker. Sure, Democrats are reeling from a mighty ass whipping rendered with all the tenderness of The Surrender, and are a tad punch drunk, and, now, in this hour of the wolf, tailoring themselves to the Western states --which fits into perfectly into Reid's M.O. neatly -- and, to a lesser degree, the Democrats find Reid more palatable to the South (who, unlike most Dems, appears to know the difference between straw and hay); but Reid is pro-life and, almost certainly, Supreme Court Rehnquist will be replaced by Bush with a pro-lifer -- then where will Reid's loyalties then lie? Are Democrats prepared to have the Minority Leader improvise some middle path of flip-floppery on this massively important issue?

Only time will tell.