Reply #10: I'm rather glad Reid folded faster than Superman on laundry day [View All]

[gratuitous]

For a change, it works in the caucus' favor. Senator Grandstand has 28½ years' seniority as a Republican. That shouldn't cut any ice with the Democratic caucus. I propose giving Specter proportional seniority for every vote he cast with the majority of Democrats over the course of his tenure in the Senate, with a penalty of one vote for each vote he made a public pronouncement of support in favor of the Democratic position, but then backtracked when the matter came up for a vote.

Example: Say he's cast 100 Senate votes. Of these, he voted with the Democrats, pass or fail on the legislation, 30 times. Specter would be eligible for 30% seniority based on his 28½ years, or 8.55 years. Now, we take away one vote for every time he made some brave public pronouncement about how he had to stick with his principles and break with Republicans, but then voted with the Republicans after all. Let's say there were, oh, conservatively estimated at 40 votes that fit that category.

Under this equation, if Specter is re-elected twice more as a Democrat, he has a chance to actually start accruing some Senate seniority. Back of the bus, Arlen!