Sotomayor's Nomination Reveals Obama's Biggest Mistake

Following Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court today, two U.S. Senators issued the following statements.

First:

In Judge Sotomayor, we have a superbly qualified jurist, who understands, respects, and connects with the people whose lives will be affected by the Court. Judge Sotomayor will bring invaluable experience and much needed diversity to our nation's highest court. I look forward to a respectful and swift confirmation process in which Congress and the American people can learn more about Judge Sotomayor's phenomenal qualifications.

Second:

I applaud the nomination of Judge Sotomayor to the Supreme Court. Her confirmation would add needed diversity in two ways: the first Hispanic and the third woman to serve on the high court. While her record suggests excellent educational and professional qualifications, now it is up to the Senate to discharge its constitutional duty for a full and fair confirmation process.

They're starkly different statements. The first is a full-throated endorsement, filled with enthusiasm. Clearly the senator who issued it stands behind Sotomayor 100 percent. The second is tepid at best. The senator who signed it has no enthusiasm for the coming fight over Sotomayor's nomination.

Different as they are, these two statements do have one thing in common: President Obama is working to clear the primary field for both of the Senators who issued them. The first comes from New York's Kirsten Gillibrand, the second from newly minted Democrat Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania.

Since he switched parties, Specter has continued his opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act, opposed highly qualified Office of Legal Counsel nominee Dawn Johnsen, and now appears to have no little or no interest in helping President Obama push through his first Supreme Court nominee from his influential seat on the Judiciary Committee.

In return, the White House has promised Specter full support in his reelection bid. He has gone from facing near-certain defeat in a Republican primary to having the President of the United States working to ensure he faces no primary opposition.

All of which begs the question: isn't supporting Specter the biggest mistake of the Obama presidency so far?

Obama has given Specter a second lease on his political life, saving him from ignominious defeat by a member of his own (former) party and delivering him a better than 50-50 chance at a victory in 2010. In return, Specter has not only not promised any votes to go the president's way, but instead seems determined to prove his independence from his new party by bucking Obama at every turn.

There's no short-term gain for Obama -- he still has to fight for Specter's vote every time he faces a close vote in the Senate. And the long-term gain for leaving Specter in the GOP was obvious: once Pat Toomey finished him off in the primary, any Democrat could have wiped the floor with the radical founder of the Club for Growth in the increasingly blue Pennsylvania. We would have been assured a real Democrat sitting in Specter's seat come January 2011.

Senator Specter will likely vote for Sotomayor. He'll probably even vote for cloture. And her nomination doesn't hinge on his support But his milquetoast statement today makes it clear he has no enthusiasm for Obama's nominee and no intention of using his influence or leadership on her behalf.

In his four short months in the White House, President Obama already has amassed a long list of accomplishments and a short list of mistakes. But supporting Arlen Specter's bid for the Democratic nomination must be the biggest error of his presidency yet. It is a major strategic blunder that Democrats could be paying for for years to come.

Comments

[chrisincalif]

Arlen Specter, and certainly his staff, do NOT think of themselves as Democrats. When Specter announced he was switching parties, I immediately sent him an initial $25 donation with a "welcome to" message. After Specter announced he would support neither the union initiative nor much of the basic Democratic Party platform, I went to the Specter website and requested a refund, stating that Specter, if honest, would have declared himself an independent. Someone at the Specter office forwarded my request to a gentleman for processing, with this subject line:

a Democrat wants her 25 bucks back

"a Democrat", not "a donor". The office recipient actually forwarded that to me with his note to say my request would be processed in 7-10 business days. It wasn't, and I had to contact my credit card to dispute the charge.

[noudidnt]

I respect what you did.

[PrickliestPear]

I don't think Obama's endorsement is going to make that much of a difference in the Democratic primary, and he knows it. He gave very little. The question is, did he get less in return?

Specter may not vote in lockstep with the Dems, but the optics of a high-profile Republican switching sides, contributing to the GOP's image as a party sinking into irrelevance, may have been worth it. Specter is doing little to attract the Dem voters he needs, and it won't be surprising if he goes down in the primary. The winner will handily defeat Pat Toomey.

No harm done, as far as Obama's concerned. Certainly not a "major strategic blunder that Democrats could be paying for for years to come." That would only be true if Specter was likely to be re-elected (instead of a more liberal Democrat) and if the Dems weren't going to win even more seats in 2010, which they probably will.

[morgan1]

This shows Obama's political naivity regarding hands across the table and let 's all be friends. Specter is a hardcore Republican and nothing has changed except for the fact he believes he can convince voters in his state to re-elect him as he had learned the error of his ways. Obama has nothing to gain by getting behind this clown and everything to lose. Considering his track record thus far (Obama) on the major choices (State Secrets, backing the telecoms and NSA on illegal wiretapping, no prosecution for war crimes, no investigations on the Bushites, expanding the war, indefinite detention on suspicious individuals, etc.) he has made, perhaps he just doesn't care what people think, or his reputation. As for me, he is more Bush and Cheney than he led us to believe.

[monkeysuit]

I think he said a lot of things campaigning that just aren't reality when your butt is in the seat.


Monkeysuit
http://randompoliticalthoughtsandnews.blogspot.com/

[SameSo]

You guys (you, morgan and the author of this article, jesse) obviously have a very short attention span. The biggest mistake Obama's critics will continue to make, is to underestimate the pres. But perhaps that is also one of his strengths. As he said in his book: Dreams from my Father: 'Dont let them see you coming."

[chriss0114]

Specter is a hardcore Specter

[JimR]

I don't think you have the slightest clue what Obama is doing... he is always thinking 3 or 4 steps ahead.

[LMPE]

Arlen Specter won't be history's most famous senator anyway.

[Angmorg]

Arlen Spector tried to work out a deal with the President.

I don't think that there is a deal with the Democratic voters of Pennsylvania

[We-Are-The-Ones]

I agree. Unlike Repubs, Democrats will think for themselves. It is not enough that Arlen is supported by the President. Pennsylvania will watch what he does as a Democrat. He has a lot to prove.

And, he may also risk receiving tepid support from Obama if he doesn't hurry up and realize he is a Democrat now.

[tel8034]

Really?

Could it be that President Obama knows that Specter won't make it through a democratic primary?

It was a political blow to the GOP when Specter defected..­..........­..... So by welcoming him to the democratic party and knowing full well that Specter will have a hard time advancing in a democratic primary, President Obama got his cake and he will it too.

[We-Are-The-Ones]

Agreed. It was a psychological gut punch to the GOP as well as a kick in the groin. The swich was worth it for that reason alone.

It also forced a public conversation as to how closed-minded the GOP is. The current attack on Powell confirms this. They are a small tent filled with mean-spirited, cruel people.

I say give it a month or so and the Maine Senators will also deflect because of the mean-spiritedness of the GOP. There is no room for them, if there ever was.

[Ozarks]

If Specter helps even in a minimal effort to getting Sotomayer confirmed outweighs any possible , probable future acts of Specter. A primary may sink him anyway, it is a long way to 2010.

[WinterParkMom]

I agree with this article and have been posting about his support of Specter since it was announced. Specter chose the expedient route instead of sticking to his guns and his principles. He sold out and was backed by our Pres then thoroughly worked against him and the Dem agenda. Pres O would have been much better served by throwing his weight behind Sestak. I think this definitely one choice that Pres O will rue. I already do.

[Doofus]

Obama supporting Specter, so far, is at least a way of
reinforcing the centrist tone of his administration. Now
that doesn't warm the hearts of progressives, certainly,
but it doesn't necessarily hurt when he's trying to get his
popularity up over 70%, which means warming up the
moderates.

In the end, it'll be up to old Arlen to swing around enough
to not remind the faithful that he's not too Lieberman-like
to remain in the Senate.

[Openeyes]

Awfully early to throw in the towel.

Specter will be 80 in 2010 and willalmost certainly face a challenge in the Democratic primary. He's not assured of winning it, and the President could always change his mind if Arlen misbehaves.

Specter has gone from being the "least reliable Republican to the being the least reliable Democrat" (I can't remember who said that, but it's true). But so what? If he stayed a Republican, there was very little chance of getting his vote on anything, and he was in a position to help (or be forced to help by Repub leadership) in obstructionist efforts. At least this way he may vote for the Dems sometimes, and perhaps won't be as obstructionist. It's not a great victory, but it's better than having him in the Repub camp.

The real point is about getting a real Dem elected to the Senate for Pennsylvania. Because Specter has switched, Repubs now have to have a real primary, spend scarce money, and there will be lots of infighting. If we're lucky, the "Club for Growth" candidate will prevail in the Repub primary, giving voters a choice of a Democrat, or a Republican who is far more conservative than Specter for Senate. It's not at all clear Specter will be the Democratic candidate, he might not survive the primary, (he might not even run at 80) so it's just good politics to have him where he is now.

Patience. This is not a mistake.

[BMS]

Specter needs to be primaried - get RID of him. He is no democrat. The president and the party owe him nothing.

[eciaccio]

Obama has made MUCH bigger mistakes:

1. Escalating the Afghan quagmire
2. Choosing Geithner & Summers as economic "messiahs"
3. Keeping 50,000 U.S. troops in Iraq
4. Keeping mercenaries in Iraq & Afghanistan
5. Escalating the pakistan war, especially with drone bombings
6. Increasing the already bloated War Department budget by 4% and continuing our insane military mindset
7. Continuing the military commissions
8. Continuing renditions
9. Continuing surveillance of U.S. citizens along with immunity of telecoms which helped Bush secretly spy on us
10. Refusing to obey his oath of office and prosecute the many war crimes of the Bush administration

[We-Are-The-Ones]

To respond to some of these

10. The Oath is to uphold the Constitution. He is doing that. The job of the President or the Executive Branch is to execute the law. If there are to be criminal prosecutions, let's wait for the DOJ to decide.

8. Renditions have not been continued. The US does not torture and that Executive Order applies to military all around the world.

7. He is not continuing the military commissions. They were found to be unconstitutional and thus discontinued. He has reformed them so that they comply with the Constitution. The US has used military commissions in many, many wars. They were not unconstitutional as the Bush creations. The President's commissions are in line with what has been done before.

Pakistan: There were drone attacks in Pakistan before Obama became President. Now, Pakistan is stepping up and to eliminate the Taliban. It is way past time.

The Economy: the Prsident has multiple economic advisers and teams. Geithner is the Secretary of the Treasurer. the President is advised by Summer and a whole host of others as well. The point is that there is no economic messiah. If there were, we would not be in this mess in the first place.

I hope this helps. With a little more information, what you deem mistake is more complicated and nuanced.

[Marcospinelli]

Does Sotomayor Support The Following Obama Beliefs:

1. That it's acceptable to give our tax revenue to churches via the faith based initiative.

2. That it's acceptable to kidnap, torture, and hold anyone in the world indefinitely.

3. That it's acceptable for the government to spy on it's own citizens via FISA.

4. That it's acceptable to remove the right of having an attorney present during questioning.

5. That it's acceptable for straight people to get married but not gays/lesbians.

[We-Are-The-Ones]

These are not Obama's beliefs. They are not articulated anywhere.

A Supreme Court justice need not support the beliefs of any President. She will interpret the Constitution of the United States.

If the issues you raise come before the Court, and they might, the Court will decide whether they are constitutional or not.

[John333]

Jesse, your mistake is to assume that what's good for Democrats is good for Obama. Obama's got the Republicans beat back pretty severely. His problem (as Carter's and Clinton's) will be controlling the Democrats. I think he wants Specter precisely to help drag the Democrats back towards the center (Gee, Nancy, I'd love to support you on this, but old Arlen is just giving me problems - can't we compromise a little?).

[Rosanneofpgh]

arlen is a dino and as such, will be defeated in the next election. A leopard never changes its spots; he may call himself a democrat but he votes rethug.