PA-Sen: Specter tacking left on health care

by kos

PA-Sen: Specter tacking left on health care Mon May 11, 2009 at 10:20:05 AM PDT

We've seen that Arlen Specter has no conviction or ideal that he won't toss aside in his efforts to remain in power. Heck, he just finished off his second party switch of his career!

Yet when he switched, he remained hostile to a whole series of Democratic priorities, recoiling viscerally at the notion that he'd be a loyal Democrat. Among other things, Specter remained pig-headedly opposed to EFCA and the public plan in Obama's health care reform plan.

Yet a couple of polls show (like ours last week) that whatever Obama and Rendell promised him, Pennsylvania Democrats aren't sold on Specter and are willing to consider alternatives like Rep. Joe Sestak.

Well, once you've switched parties, changing positions on various issues is pretty easy, and we're starting to see movement in that direction.

Sen. Arlen Specter says he's open to a government health insurance plan that would compete with private insurers to cover middle-class Americans, a policy reversal for the newest Democrat.

Specter had upset many in his new party with his opposition to the public plan, which is perhaps the most controversial component of the health reform debate in Congress.

But in a letter to the progressive group Health Care for America Now, Specter said he looks forward to "discussing and considering" the issue. He said a starting point could be a proposal by Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., that seeks to maintain a level playing field between the private and public sector.

It's a start, we'll see what the details look like, and what role Specter plays in helping to make it happen. But it looks like the start of yet another one of Specter's legendary policy shifts, all of it courtesy of a little electoral pressure.

Specter really has two choices -- one, become a solid, loyal Democrat and health care, EFCA, and other issues, and have a clear path in the primary, or take the Lieberman "be a prick" approach and face the fight of his life. The ball is in his court.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/5/11/730198/-PA-Sen:-Specter-tacking-left-on-health-care