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Post-Obama world holds dangers for Democrats, too

Three more notes on the rapidly shifting, post-Obama political world and how it makes predictions so difficult:

First, very interesting post by Daniel Livingston on Bob Casey and his response to Sotomayor. Sure, he’ll support her, but won’t he have some misgivings about her supposedly pro-abortion stance? Come to think of it, how do we even know if she is pro-abortion? There are already reports that no one actually knows her position. Is the “big tent” Democratic Party big enough for some ambiguity on this issue, even on the Supreme Court?

Second, the reports that Navy vet Ryan Bucchianeri may challenge the plainly reeling John Murtha (D-12) in the Democratic primary. Ordinarily the Democrats would discourage this sort of thing for fear of losing the seat in November. But having declared the GOP irrelevant and extremist why should the Democrats settle for anything less than the perfect candidate?

Finally, the increasing indications that Congressman Joe Sestak (D-7) will challenge Specter for the Democratic nomination continue to shift the ground, along with reports that Specter might not have such a large lead over Pat Toomey after all.

All of these stories may go somewhere… or nowhere. The point is that, with the sudden shift of the Democrats to majority if not dominant status, all sorts of things that seemed previously impossible are now on the table. Having lost, at least for a time, their fear of the Republicans there is little reason for individual Democrats to hold back on their personal agendas, or to accept candidates and outcomes that are less than perfect for them. That’s why majorities are hard to maintain, and why the GOP comeback may be faster in coming than many think.

May 29, 2009 at 8:39 am

--Michael Livingston

Tags: Arlen Specter, Bob Casey, Joe Sestak, Pat Toomey, Ryan Bucchianeri

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