Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Specter Changes Parties!

Wow. This is crazy. But it definitely makes sense. He has long been a moderate Republican, and with the GOP moving to the right instead of center, it is no wonder he feels alienated.

Little known fact: When I was in graduate school we had a three week course, part of which consisted of a simulation where we all took on roles in the federal government. A female classmate from Azerbaijan was President Bush and a liberal friend of mine was VP Cheney, in case you were wondering. I was Senator Arlen Specter. This was in the Summer of 2002, so we were working on passing legislation regarding the developing War on Terror. It was good times.

Actually, someone basically changed parties in our simulation as well - although from the different side. At the time, Dems had a majority in the Senate (both real and in simulation). However, a person from the Cato Institute (played by another liberal friend of mine) convinced Senator Jay Rockefeller to vote with the GOP. We got all of our legislation through.

I had also had an agreement with senators Kennedy and Durbin to support my military tribunal bill. In the end they abstained because they couldn't vote against it (because of our agreement), but one of the liberal interest groups (ACLU I think) threatened them so they couldn't actually vote for it. It passed thanks to their abstention and Rockefeller's support.

You have to love the high drama of politics - whether it is simulated or real!

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