There goes the rationale for Arlen Specter’s continued service in the U.S. Senate!
…Democrats placed Specter in one of the two most junior slots on each of the five committees for the remainder of this Congress, which goes through December 2010. Democrats have suggested that they will consider revisiting Specter’s seniority claim at the committee level only after the midterm elections next year.
…Without any assurance of seniority, Specter loses a major weapon in his campaign to win reelection in 2010: the ability to claim that his nearly 30 years of Senate service places him in key positions to benefit his constituents.
In the event that Specter wins re-election next year, there will be even less incentive for Democrats to give him back his seniority “entitlement.”