desh | (no subject)

Just over 24 hours before I vote, and I'm still undecided about who I'm going to cast my vote for in the election.

Clearly, I'm talking about the Senate race between Specter and Hoeffel in Pennsylvania.

Specter used to be my favorite Republican, for a long time. He never used to blindly vote with his party. He thought for himself on many issues, even highly politicized ones. For example, he voted "not proven" on the Clinton articles of impeachment. So not only was his vote recorded as "not guilty", thus setting him against his party, but he drew attention to himself while doing so. But in the past few years, he's gotten worse and worse at this, and is now almost a down-the-line Republican. So I'd be inclined to vote against him.

Thing is, though, he's still staunchly pro-choice. And if the Republicans retain control of the Senate, which is looking more and more likely, then he'll be the chair of the Judiciary Committee. In other words, he'll be the second most important person in the country when it comes to appointing judges. I like Hoeffel more than Specter in general, but my worst nightmare is Bush winning the White House, the Republicans keeping the Senate, and someone other than Specter running Senate Judiciary.

So what to do?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

If the way the Republican party is going is any indication, if Specter is re-elected (which looks likely) he won't get chair of any committee. Why do you think that Santorum, a senator with a much shorter record than Specter, is so far higher up the Republican hierarchy? Because Santorum is a hardcore right winger, and not a moderate like Specter. That's another reason why I'm not voting for Specter, by the way - because, to make up the ideological difference with his own party, Specter is being drawn further and further to the right, as opposed to the moderate stance he had before (that kept getting him re-elected with a large portion of the Philadelphia voter body). That, and Hoeffel was my Representative before they redistricted and took him away. Those bastards.

--Jeff

wait.. hoeffel is for philly proper, right?

and yeah, forget my question/comment below, i'm going hoeffel. thanks jeff.

Hoeffel is running against Specter in a state-wide election for the U.S. Senate. He formerly served as a member of the U.S. House, representing a congressional district that I think was mostly Montgomery County, but also included part of Philadelphia? Maybe?

He was Montgomery county, until some redistricting (bordering on gerrymandering, if you ask me) by the State Congress sent him to North Philadelphia. I'm note exactly sure where, but somewhere along the westernmost end of Roosevelt Blvd, just east of 611.

--Jeff

Hmm. I've heard otherwise. I must do research on this. Do you have any sources that back up what you said?

Both The Inquirer and a conservative source say that the job is most likely Specter's. In fact, the conservative source seems particularly worried about that. So I renew my request for your sources.

Actually, and strangely enough... you appear to be right about Specter being in line for the chair of the Judiciary committee. I wonder, however, if that will mean that he'll vote his conscience or whether it will be given to him on the condition that he vote his party's line. I'm still voting Hoeffel, since I'm not convinced Specter can successfully separate his own pro-choice views from the pro-life Republican party mandate.

--Jeff