Arlen Specter's switch to the Democratic Party is being treated as another rebuke to the religious right. Huffpo says as much. Specter, a supporter of abortion rights and stem cell research, seemed to suggest as much too, in his press conference yesterday, when he called for rebellion in Republican circles.
I'd just like to point out that the religious right is at an all-time ebb; it helped destroy the Republican Party last year and everyone including Michael Steele knows that. But it has been a major force in our politics for over 30 years; it helped elect Jimmy Carter, then Ronald Reagan. Specter didn't have as much trouble with it when it was just part of a larger, winning coalition.
In joining the Democratic Party, Specter will help consolidate the presence in the Democratic Party of what I sometimes call the religious left: the Israel lobby. The National Jewish Democratic Council is
welcoming Arlen Specter as the 12th Jewish senator in the Democratic
caucus (including independents Bernie Sanders and Joe Lieberman). And
Al Franken will make 13.
Specter was a supporter of the Iraq War and has been unspectacular on Israel/Palestine issues. (Though he has always been someone who thinks for himself, and pushed the Syria initiative over the last couple years.) Let's be clear: The Israel lobby is a vital component of the Democratic coalition–Obama promoting Eric Lynn and Leon Panetta hiring Jane Harman's former intelligence aide, who is surely hawkish on Israel, being the latest evidence.
How long the Democratic Party can hold Jane Harman and Brian Baird together over the most divisive and important issue in Middle East foreign policy is the burning question. I hope this dissolution does not take 30 years.
