Attention has been focused on Senator Harry Reid, a Democrat from Nevada, as he works behind closed doors to try to meld two different committee versions of health care legislation into one bill for the full Senate to debate.

VOA: standard.2009.10.26

Specter's announcement was welcomed by White House spokesman Robert Gibbs, who said Specter's support would be important in implementing President Obama's economic plan: "Let me repeat what the president told Senator Specter this morning, that he has the president's full support, that he is thrilled that he switched parties and is a Democrat and that we look forward to working as we have on the Recovery and Reinvestment Plan with Senator Specter,"

VOA: standard.2009.04.28

Incumbent Senator Joe Lieberman, a Democrat, is running as an independent after he lost the Democratic primary in August.

NPR: Sen. Lieberman's Future Democratic Relations

Just over a year ago in May 2007, Senator Christopher Dodd, in his capacity as a senior Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and as Chairman of the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, Peace Corps and Narcotics Affairs, sent a letter to Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice with a laundry list of complaints about paramilitary and narco-trafficker infiltration of the Colombian government.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: The new battlefield in Latin America

The junior Senator, Ben Nelson, is a Democrat, but as one resident of the town of Broken Bow told us on a visit last week, he votes Republican a lot.

NPR: Economic Check-Up in Broken Bow