Taegan Goddard's Political Wire

March 24, 2009

Specter to Vote Against "Card Check"

Congress Daily reports that Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) will vote against a cloture motion to limit debate on the Employee Free Choice Act. "Specter's opposition could doom the legislation because to pass the bill organized labor needs 60 votes to overcome a Republican filibuster."

It also likely means Specter has chosen to make his re-election run as a Republican and not as an independent. He had already ruled out switching parties.

Coming tomorrow: A new Quinnipiac in Pennsylvania tests Specter's chances.

Update: Specter's primary challenger Pat Toomey released a statement: "The difference between Specter's vote on the big government stimulus bill and Specter's vote on card check: a threat in the Republican primary.  It's nice to see Sen. Specter reverse his position in a positive direction on card check, but I wish it didn't take primary opposition to get him to do it."

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Taegan D. Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country, including the Washington Post, USA Today, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer and Christian Science Monitor.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

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