By Greg Giroux
Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter is proving to be a loyal Democrat.
Specter who faces a serious challenge in a 2010 Democratic primary has demonstrated a higher level of party unity during his brief time as a Democrat than he did as a Republican.
CQ data show that Specter since bolting the Republican Party at the end of April has sided with Democrats on 17 of 20 votes that have pitted most Democrats against most Republicans. CQ refers to these party-line or near-party-line votes as party unity votes.
Its an admittedly small sample -- the Senate voted just 51 times between April 30 when Specters party switch became official on the voting rolls and the July Fourth recess and just 21 of those votes were party unity votes. But Specters 85 percent party unity score post-switch demonstrates a large degree of party allegiance for the senator.
On 2009 party unity votes the Senate took when Specter was a Republican he sided with the majority Republican position on 76 of 135 party unity votes or 56 percent of the time. Over the past decade Specters party unity scores generally hovered in the 60s.
If you consider Specter as a Democrat for the entire first half of 2009 his party unity score would be 49 percent. The 17-for-20 streak of voting with Democrats since his switch raised his score from 44 percent (the inverse of the 56 percent party unity score he actually amassed during 2009 votes as a Republican). His score almost certainly will rise even more.
The three votes on which Democrat Specter broke from his partys majority position included an April 30 vote against a cramdown amendment rejected during consideration of a housing bill that would have given bankruptcy judges the option of changing the terms of a mortgage loan. Specter was one of 12 Democrats voting no putting him at odds with 43 Democratic senators who voted the other way.
The other two were procedural votes in mid-May on legislation signed into law by President Obama to tighten credit card regulations.
Specter will be challenged in the Democratic primary next spring by Rep. Joe Sestak who had a 96 percent party unity score in the first half of 2009. It is not possible to compare the Specter and Sestak scores because the House held different (and more) votes than the Senate.
Sestak sided with Democratic leaders on all high-profile bills such as an expansion of childrens health insurance and the economic stimulus law (two bills that Specter also backed). The rare instances in which Sestak disagreed with most House Democrats included his opposition to a Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill and to legislation to curb bonuses at companies that received federal bailout money. (Sestak explained his opposition to the latter bill here.)
State Rep. Bill Kortz also is seeking the Democratic nomination. Former Rep. Pat Toomey is vying with Peg Luksik for the Republican nomination.
