Specter Stripped Of Seniority

Arlen Specter has succeeded in making a complete fool of himself - again.
And now he stands alone.
His fellow Democrats have summarily stripped him of his seniority.
Yes, he's lost nearly 30 years of precious Senate seniority.
The Democrats quickly discovered that Specter is of little value to them.
So now Specter is of little or no value to Pennsylvania as well.
Today, he's just a lowly back-bencher.
Here's the story from Glenn Thrush and Manu Raju at Politico:
Arlen Specter infuriated Senate Republicans when he bolted from their party last week. Now he’s alienated just about everybody in the Senate Democratic caucus, too. Since declaring himself a Democrat last Tuesday, Specter has defied Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and the White House on virtually everything that’s come down the pike: the budget, mortgage reform, the Al Franken-Norm Coleman race, even President Barack Obama’s appointment of Dawn Johnsen to head the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel. All while quibbling over whether he said he’d be a “loyal Democrat” — and insisting that he had an “entitlement” to transfer his Senate seniority from one side of the aisle to the other. The blowback came Tuesday night: On a voice vote, the Senate voted to strip Specter of his 29 years of seniority, effectively transforming him in a blink-and-you-missed-it-moment from one of the most senior senators in the body to a lowly freshman on most committees. "There were concerns about his actions," said Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), chairwoman of the Senate Democratic Steering and Outreach Committee, which sets committee assignments. In a statement released Wednesday afternoon, Specter said that Reid had promised him that he could transfer his seniority to the Democratic Party. “Sen. Reid assured me that I would keep my committee assignments and that I would have the same seniority as if I had been elected as a Democrat in 1980,” Specter said. “It was understood that the issue of subcommittee chairmanships would not be decided until after the 2010 election. Some members of the caucus have raised concerns about my seniority, so the caucus will vote on my seniority at the same time subcommittee chairmanships are confirmed after the 2010 election. I am confident my seniority will be maintained under the arrangement I worked out with Sen. Reid.” Specter said in the statement that he would “continue to be a staunch and effective advocate for Pennsylvania¹s and the nation's priorities.” But as early as Tuesday afternoon, the Pennsylvania Republican-turned-Democrat seemed to know that he’d be doing that from something akin to freshman status. Sen. Jeff Sessions, just selected to take Specter's former spot as the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee, asked Specter on Tuesday where he would be sitting during committee proceedings. "At the end of the other side of the aisle," a dejected Specter responded, according to a first-hand account of the conversation. Democratic staffers say Reid may have tolerated Specter’s early splits with the party if he hadn’t simultaneously been so vocal in claiming he was entitled to keep his seniority and leapfrog over veteran Democrats on some of the Senate’s most powerful committees.
Specter’s claim that he’d been promised as much sparked an in-house rebellion among longtime Democratic foot soldiers, including Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) and Tom Harkin (D-Iowa). Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), chairwoman of an Appropriations subcommittee who would have been passed over by the more senior Specter, said it would have been an unfair move.
"When you get to be a chairman, you really have some control of that area, and that's what makes it interesting for me," Feinstein told Politico.
"Somebody comes in on top — then everybody gets bumped. Then somebody gets bumped from the committee. That's a very hard thing if you've got 14 years having been on that committee. Obviously you'd like to stay where you are. I understand how people feel about it." Feinstein said she's heard other members complain about Specter keeping his seniority, too. "It's a concern, and I think Sen. Specter will understand that." By Tuesday night, Reid had no option but to strip Specter of his seniority, staffers with knowledge of the situation say.
Note that Politico rightly tags Specter's situation a "meltdown."
And indeed it is.
For the people of Pennsylvania will pay the price for Specter's foolish actions - and all because Specter only cared about himself.