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Ari Fleisher pontificates about PA elections; doesn't understand PA election laws

April 28, 2009 3:38 pm ET by Eric Boehlert

Fleisher appeared on Fox News this afternoon to criticize Sen. Arlen Specter's decision to jump to the Democratic Party today. 

Specifically, Fleisher thought Specter's move was dishonorable and that Specter should have done what Sen. Joe Lieberman did in CT when he faced a tough inner-party challenge: take his lumps in the primary and then run as an independent in the general election.

Fleisher:

You know there is a case where somebody actually did it honorably, and that was Joe Lieberman.  He stood his ground, stood his principles, lost his primary and said I have more to offer, and ran as an Independent in a 3-way race, and the people of Connecticut elected him.  Sen. Specter could have chosen that path.  It would have been the more honorable, principled path.

Slight problem. According to PA election law, a candidate who loses a primary challenge cannot run in the general election, even if he/she becomes an independent.

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    • Author by jstrick (April 28, 2009 4:00 pm ET)
         
      Also, how is in honorable to run again,in the same election, under a different banner after you lost. It's not taking your lumps, it's a sore loser who wants to undermine the will of the voters in his party.
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      • Author by fairliberal (April 28, 2009 10:45 pm ET)
           
        Joe Lieberman showed that he was upholding the will of the people of Conn, regardless of what one party said. We need more politicians like Lieberman
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        • Author by foghornleghorn (April 29, 2009 4:15 pm ET)
             

          Wrong again.  He was elected because the Democratic nominee would have CRUSHED the republican nominee in the general election.  The republican voters made a decision that Lieberman was a lesser Democratic "evil" than the guy that beat him in the primary.

          It's really that simple.

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          • Author by fairliberal (April 29, 2009 11:40 pm ET)
               
            Wrong again ? yes you are. Democrat or republican, they are all the people of Conn and they elected Joe Liebermman. That was the will of the people of Conn.  And in 2010 it looks like they will finally wake up to the abomination named Chris Dodd, good riddance.
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    • Author by seeryer (April 28, 2009 4:14 pm ET)
         
      My favorite line from Ari today was that the Air Force One flyover in NYC shows how Obama and his adminstration see the world in a pre 9-11 view.  He honestly said that.
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    • Author by Dem02020 (April 28, 2009 4:16 pm ET)
         

      It's all very interesting, fascinating even, but it's just purely semantic so far.  

      As far as how Sen. Specter casts his future vote as a U.S. Senator, I'm not sure there's anything in his statement today that indicates anything about that, one way or the other... as a matter of fact, his statement indicates he is switching party affiliations purely for political or electoral reasons, so that he can run in the Democratic Primary, as opposed to the the Republican Primary... this in sharp contrast to former Sen. Jeffords of Vermont, and his announcement that he was affiliating himself with neither party (independent), where he specifically said he would "caucus" with Democrats: that was an indication, and a true one, as to how he would cast his future vote, as a U.S. Senator.  

      No such indication is found I believe, in Sen. Specter's statement today: he simply made a statement about which PA political Primary he would run in, that's all.  

      My point is not to say how Sen. Specter will cast his future votes in the U.S. Senate, but to point out that the Senator's statement today, makes no indication of that matter, or none that I could read into it.    

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      • Author by all your eyes (April 28, 2009 7:17 pm ET)
           
        The important question is, will he vote for cloture and allow an up-or-down vote on EFCA? Cap and trade? I don't care if he votes against top priorities, he can vote his conscience all day long, but surely Obama got him to agree to vote for cloture on major priorities in exchange for clearing the primary field for him.
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    • Author by shaggles (April 28, 2009 4:24 pm ET)
         
      Fleischer has a funny idea about what is honorable.  What Lieberman did was the opposite of honorable.
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      • Author by fairliberal (April 28, 2009 11:00 pm ET)
           
        Yeah, after almost 20 years of loyalty to liberal causes how dare a politician take a stand on conscience, how dishonorable. Of course the people knew better.
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