Free Republic

When Arlen Specter became the 21st senator to switch parties while in office, he did so with considerably more flash than one predecessor. "I basically tried to move about without notice," said former Sen. Harry F. Byrd Jr. of Virginia. Byrd, 94, switched from Democratic registration to independent in 1970. "Colleagues were cordial, but I did my best to avoid everyone." Specter, 79, had little chance of repeating that feat Tuesday. His announcement kicked off a national frenzy of news stories and speculation about what it might mean for Pennsylvania politics, President Obama's agenda, the balance of power in the...

At 93, political legend, ex-senator likes McCain By Salena Zito TRIBUNE-REVIEW Tuesday, February 12, 2008 At The Winchester Star, his family's newspaper, Harry Byrd Jr. is an invaluable historian. He left the U.S. Senate 26 years ago, yet, at 93, still keeps a keen eye on Virginia's political landscape.

I agree with John Podhoretz that politics in the real world calls for some compromise — at least when a matter of principle is not involved. But he’s dreaming if he really thinks the filibuster “compromise” struck last night in the Senate is a “victory.” Let’s say the signatory senators had not bothered to write up the kumbaya agreement with all those pretty phrases about “mutual trust and confidence” and “good faith” and “spirit and continuing commitments” (gossamer, if ever there was, rivaled only by “should only be filibustered under extraordinary circumstances” in the depth of its meaninglessness). Let’s say,...

1960: WHO REALLY WON? Just shot an episode of Uncommon Knowledge, on the Electoral College, on which my guests were Tara Ross (whose new book, Enlightened Democracy: The Case for the Electoral College is wonderfully cogent) and Jack Rakove, a professor of history here at Stanford. When I asked how many times the Electoral College had given chosen as president the candidate who had lost the popular vote, Tara and Jack mentioned the elections that usually get mentioned, namely those of 1876, 1888 and 2000, in which the winners of the popular vote (Tilden, Cleveland and Gore, respectively) lost the...