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Senator Arlen Specter’s abrupt move to switch allegiance to President Barack Obama’s Democratic Party was a sharp blow to Republicans and will likely generate more soul-searching for the minority party…
* If he had remained a Republican, he faced a tough challenge for the party’s nomination in Pennsylvania’s 2010 Senate race from conservative Pat Toomey. The moderate Specter beat Toomey in a tight primary in 2004 but faced an even tougher battle this time.
* As far as the Republican base was concerned, his biggest Achilles’ heel was his support for Obama’s $787 billion economic stimulus bill. That bill passed the U.S. Congress in February with support from only three Republicans — Specter and Maine senators Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe.
* Specter’s announcement sharply criticized Republicans, who lost control of the U.S. Congress in 2006, and lost the White House and more seats in Congress in 2008. “I now find my political philosophy more in line with Democrats than Republicans,” his statement said…
* Republican strategist John Feehery said Republican leaders in the Senate did all they could to hang on to Specter. More broadly, however, he said: “What it says about the party is they have to make a determination on whether they want to be in the majority or whether they want to be intellectually pure…”
* Republican strategist Scott Reed said: “I always thought Specter would consider switching to become an independent to get re-elected, and it’s too bad that Michael Steele pushed him into the Democrat Party.”
Overdue. And crafty.
#5 – Paddy-O – That was too fiscally conservative for his taste.
Fiscal conservatives… LOL
#6 – Alfred1 – Good riddance! Its about time…Now Maine Republican Senators Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe should join him.
No wonder people are abandoning the Republican party…
#13 – Alfred1 – But those of us who didn’t vote for him, who are Conservative for reasons of principle (individual freedom in life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness)
Individual freedom in life as in Pro-choice?
Liberty as in a surveillance society?
Pursuit of happiness as in allowing gay marriage?
#17 – Alex – Of Course Limbaugh’s celebrating. This will feed his BullshitMaker5000 for the next month!
LMAO 😀
#30 – Hyph3n – The Republicans however are slowly becoming just a bunch of angry white guys pandering to the religious right.
Pretty much sums them up.
#32 – LibertyLover – Not True! They a black guy!
Michael Jackson doesn’t count…
#35, Liberty as in a surveillance society?
Yeah, I was glad to see the current administration push for the repeal of the Patriot Act.
Michael Jackson doesn’t count…
Oh.
Arlen is pro amnesty for illegals, pro abortion, pro homo marriage, pro gun control and pro Israel. That big tent approach isn’t working so well for the Repubs.
This jew also invented the magic bullet theory on the Kennedy assassination, aided and abetted the cover up of Israel’s attack on the USS Liberty, is a closet homo as most jews are, and is HIV+.
#37 One can confidently predict that whatever Obama does, Alfie will loudly and vehemently protest. You’re so predictable, dude. What you’re doing takes no mental processing whatsoever. Which seems to fit you perfectly. 🙂
Arlen Spector has been a closet Democrat for decades. Now maybe Pennsylvania will be able to nominate a real Republican rather than having a Democrat running on both tickets.
To me, this just shows that Spector knows that he will not be renominated for the Republican ticket in a year and, this way, he can make it look like he is a man of conviction. In reality, he is desperate to stay in office and he knows he will be tossed off the ticket next time around.
Don’t let the door hit you in the ass, Arlen. And take McCain with you.
And the sheep eat this stuff up.
A Specter is HAUNTING the Ghostly Old Party, which is becoming MORE AND MORE IRRELEVANT !!! The PRICE THEY HAVE TO PAY FOR ***EIGHT YEARS*** OF MISERABLE FAILURE UNDER BUSH AND CHENEY !!!
#44 Better watch out Alfie… you purge enough unbelievers, your party will be small enough to drown in a bathtub… 😉
The Democrats still can’t add four more judges to the Supreme court to force it liberal until they get the comedian from Michigan.
The leftists forget that Christians come alive when persecuted. The leftists live in their subculture so much they don’t understand the rest of the country, not to mention the world. that’s why Janet Napolitano thought it was safe to call patriots “terrorists.”
#43, Alphie the Denier,
In other words, Republican is the party of exclusion. The Democrats are the party of inclusion.
And the “tea party”? Yup. I picture all those Republicans, well those that are left, having a little tea party dressed up with crinoline, petty coats, and bows in their hair. How quaint.
#47 If by “leftists” you mean “the majority of Americans except for the bitter and shrinking core of wingnut Republicans” then you’re absolutely right.
Oh, and if by “patriots” you mean “sore loser Republicans who can’t stand that America didn’t vote for them and now are working up a world-class pout”.
And if by “Christians come alive when persecuted” you mean “Christian Taliban becomes infuriated when the nation tells them to shove their petty hateful religion up their asses”.
Glad I could clear that up. 🙂
This is an interesting turn of events in that Spector felt he needed to lower his standards to Democrat levels in order to get re-elected.
Like many a self-serving politician he placed his own lust for power over the good of the country. Too bad it’s all a wasted effort because this traitor will be going home to stay in 2010.
I’m from PA. Lieberman is more of a Republican than Spector.
This move is not at all shocking.
Is anyone surprised? I mean, really? Spector’s always voted with the Dems, and only switched over because he’d lose his seat unless he was on the other side of the ballot.
So now, the Dems officially have all the power. Everything.
Every single thing that goes wrong from now on is Obama’s fault. He has not the single smallest excuse. The Republicans can do all they can and not affect anything in the slightest. Every jot and tittle is 100% his. He will certainly take all the credit when things go well, and he will damn well get the blame when it goes badly. All of it.
It’s all up to WonderBoy now.
Dylan
“They say that patriotism is the last refuge
To which a scoundrel clings.
Steal a little and they throw you in jail,
Steal a lot and they make you king.”
oh no the Republicans can now only steal a little
its good to be King
Lets not blow it this time remember how power corrupted the Dems in 20 years ago.
Tip O’Neill we miss ya buddy let your ghost keep an eye on these new kids
Welcome to Les Etats-Unis d’Amérique.
#35, Liberty as in a surveillance society?
Like this?
http://tinyurl.com/c5vfyr
#53….Wonder”Boy”?
Did you actually write that in 2009 about an African-American president, clearly knowing all the associations that brings up? And you claim the Democrats play the race card? Why not just call him a nigger, that’s pretty much much what you just did! Will we be seeing blackface and watermelon jokes next?
I mean I knew the KKK was a live and well in the Rupugs, but I never thought I’d see it so blatantly!
No wonder Repubs are seen as racist monsters…you are!
Wow, “wonder boy” is derived from the age old german term wunderkinder. Get a grip, weareone. Who is playing the race card?
# 8 Alfred1, # 16 cornholer and of course Rush Limbaugh; All good Repugnant-cons believe in the GM model (American business model) of growth; cut, then cut, then cut some more.
Good luck with that mindless ideology.
Okay the man is out of one party and in another but will the people back home love him?
The party faithful don’t like party jumpers and it doesn’t matter which party you are talking about.
This new batch of defeated republicans seem to be cowering together as Rush delivers his enthusiasm for their fearful, homophobic,selfish,stupid,ignorant determination to believe that white guys are actually superior to all others.
#22 – An absolute gem. A rarity on this board.
He’s not totally predictable on the issue but I think Spector will vote for universal healthcare.
So that will be good for everybody.
Damn this is awsome, just to think we had president bush in power and republicans crapping all over civil rights, now they are done, they have no plan,no ideas besides going as far right as humanely possible. god limbaugh is a godsend, just to think he is basically the symbol of the party, everything he says digs republicans even deeper into a hole.
How can you claim to be a conservative and a registered Repugnant-con? The two never coincided? What exactly are you trying to conserve?
All his comments are 100% spin. The real reason he is swapping? Spector is following the #1 rule of all politicians.
Get Re-elected
He knows he does not have a chance if he stays in the Republican party.
If I were a Senate Democrat, I would keep this guy at arms length, He was a Democrat back in the 60′ the switched to Republican and now he’s switched to Democrat.
After over 45 years of carrying the Republican banner, I would hate to think that the Democrats are so desperate, that they would want him.
#61, Alphie, the Quaalude Queen,
There are nine more republicans to oust…who voted for Sebelius’s confirmation…in spite of her relationship to tiller the baby killer.
To tiller the baby killer? Maybe you can enlighten us on how your constant harping on “free will” and “liberty” stop with women. Why must women be subject to the whims of men?
I suspect the truth is more along the lines of you being a hypocrite but I’ll wait for your answer.
This is a smart move on Specter’s part. His chances in the Republican primary were poor. His chances in a general election v. Toomey are good. Looking at it here in NEPA, both Barletta and Hackett got their asses handed to them in November. I’m sure that wasn’t lost on him.
Will it change his voting pattern? Not to a significant degree. His inclination to vote the way he believes, versus blindly following party diktats, is what raised the ire of The Faithful in the first place, and why you see so many bellowing ‘good riddance’.
This is why the fears of a Democratic supermajority are overblown. You could have 100% Dems in Congress, and you wouldn’t see the monolithic voting bloc that you see with Republicans. Getting all Dems to vote one way is like herding cats. Or, as Will Rogers said, “I am not a member of any organized political party. I am a Democrat.”