Blog - Switching Sides

Making things a little more official seeming, Sen. Arlen Specter [D, PA] today moved his Senate desk from the Republican side of the chamber to the Democratic side. CQ:

As the eighth most senior Democrat, his desk now sits in the second row of the center-most section of the majority party’s desks, behind Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin of Illinois.

Specter now shares a row with Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia, the longest-serving senator ever, and sits between Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut and Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont, just over Durbin’s right shoulder.

How much does the chit-chat between desk sharers affect what happens in the Senate? Did Durbin lean back in his chair and have a quick word with Arlen after he cast his first vote as a Democrat today against cramdown?