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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.
The party faithful don’t like party jumpers
According to a couple interviews I heard last night, a lot of Repubs in PA have left the Republican party. They didn’t change their minds on any issues, they realized the R’s were going WAY too far right, and that their de-facto leader is a pied piper.
Nobody with brains wants to ride a sinking ship.
Glad to hear it.. reasonable Democrats should welcome him.
Republicans need to learn that ideology and politics are antiquated concepts that SHOULD NOT be mixed with each other (separation of church and state you have a call on line 1).
If the republicans ever want any serious consideration from anyone besides aging theocrats then they need to lose the “holier than thou” attitude.
Alfred1, you’re mistaken and irrelevant.
Conservatives are done, they are never coming back, and have no place in the US anymore than the KKK.
Obama will make sure that districts are correctly drawn, all people who SHOULD be able to vote will be able to vote (no matter how they got here), rightwing corporations will not be allowed to buy votes, the lying right won’t be allowed to lie and trick people into voting for them, and hateful voices like Rush’s will be shut down.
Once these things are in place, the playing field will be level for the first time in decades, and we will see that the majority of people really are liberal, progressive and determined not to be put down again. For years the real Americans have been kept out, disenfranchised and lied to.
Spector is the last piece of the puzzle. Now we begin. Republicans, look out, you’re about to be muzzled forever.
Dan, I wouldn’t say never. That sort of monolithic power mongering is exactly what got the Republicans in trouble. Democrats will hold sway for exactly as long as they dont do anything too stupid. The swinging pendulum is a good thing, I just wish it wouldnt swing as wide as it has the last few years.
And as abhorrent as I find lying blowhards like Rush, to silence them would be wrong. They are free to speak, and people are free to listen. Fight by speaking in opposition, never by silence.
# 31 joe said:
“if he loses in the democratic primary, he’ll switch sides again and run as an independent.”
Can’t. Prohibited by Pennsylvania law. It’s called the “sore loser” law. If you lose one of the party primaries, you are prohibited from running in the general election as an independent. (I learned that from watching MSNBC!)
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# 43 Alfred1 said, in part:
“…if the republican party can cleanse itself of bailout/stimulus/port stench, rid itself of the moderates…it will sweep both houses and the presidency by 2012.”
So let me see if I have this right; the thinking is: “Oh, no! The voters are rejecting our push to the Right! What’ll we do? I know! We’ll push even _harder_ to the Right!”
Is that about it?
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# 47 Timuchin said, in part:
“The Democrats still can’t add four more judges to the Supreme court to force it liberal until they get the comedian from Michigan.”
Eventually Norm Coleman will run out of courts to appeal to. I don’t see him as the type to go to The Hague…
Alfred, your assumption that eventually people will see the light about conservatism is delusional. Since 1996 the conservatives had the chance to cement their positions and make the changes necessary to do just what you say, and we all know how that turned out.
In reality, as moderates leave the Republican party it gets smaller. “The base” is nothing more than that…it’s not large enough to be significant as anything other than a noisy opposition. And as that base gets smaller and more defined, the rest of the US sees it as a pile of angry old white guys and their submissive wives, with a couple token non-whites. Unless “the base” opens its eyes to the reality of its irrelevance, the fate of today’s conservative movement is already determined. Or to put it another way, The R’s need to dump the religious wing and get back to what R’s are good at.
So go on and continue to wail that failure is success, but it’s obvious to everyone on the outside that you guys are just whiners and demagogues right now.
# 2 Olo Baggins of Bywater said, in part:
“Phil’s got brass ones, and writes yet another chapter in the downfall of the GOP.”
Huh? Phil? Who’s Phil?
And by the way people, it’s Specter. Arlen Specter.
Rush… he is part of the shadow government, he even looks like Pinky.
Patso: whoops, wrong Specter. This one’s got a less hair and has presumably killed fewer women. 🙂
Alfred: you’re ignoring the math, which is immutable: less is not more. Throwing out moderates may focus the party, but it also eliminates any chance at winning elections. Rush’s ratings decrease when his guys win, and increased when Obama won, so you figure out his motivation. Think about it, don’t just blindly start typing.
And you voted for McCain because of Palin? McCain’s staff would be happy to know that somebody actually fell for that ruse.
Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.
Alfred, quit drinking the Rush kool-aid. He’s no prophet, he’s an entertainer interested in filling his pockets.
“Palin the living embodiment of the pioneer/patriot”
hahaha
Alfred says: Rush kool aid?…doesn’t exist.
Astounding!
Nice to have someone in the Democratic Party in the Senate who is against filibustering judges.
Moving too far to the right? Would Arlen Specter or the posters here like to explain at what time would the Republican Party be OK with a Senator who voted for a trillion dollar stimulus package, which he says is the reason he can’t win the primary?
MikeN…when they get their heads out of Rush’s ass.
From your mouth to God’s ear, alfred1. Keep dreaming. The GOP is a bunch of hypocritical scumbag selfish oligarch-wannabees.
8 years of shit sandwiches from Bush, and you think the American people are going to forget that and embrace the fearmongering shit the GOP and the Right is dishing out still? Defunct monetary policy, myopic foreign policy, and a me-first mentality are all the current GOP seems to be able to offer.
The GOP is in trouble big time when it can’t even keep a hold on its old rich white men.
Don’t worry, Israel Joe Lieberman will switch back to the GOP so as to keep AIPAC happy.
Poor Alfie, like all the other wingnuts, can’t bring himself to accept that Saint Ronnie of Alzheimer’s never submitted a balanced budget in all his 8 years. Remember what he was going to do… increase military spending, cut taxes (on the rich) and balance the budget. Well, two out of three ain’t bad. 🙂
I read somewhere that 70% of our entire national deficit was incurred under Reagan and the two Bushes… so much for Republican “thriftiness”… 🙂
I find it interesting that so many libs are offering the Republicans advice on how they should expand the influence of the GOP, mainly by adopting liberal viewpoints and policies. Why would they want the Republicans to succeed anyway? You would think they would be ecstatic with recent developments. Instead, they are getting even more and more pissed off as their power in Congress increases. Their intolerance of differing opinions is palpable. And it is making millions of Americans very nervous about their personal and financial fates.
The Dems don’t seem to be happy with 60% of the Senate. They seem to want nothing less than 100% one party rule, the elimination of all dissension, the destruction of free enterprise, and government ownership/control of all major industry, be it financial, industrial, or medical. How Stalinistic. Lenin would be proud.
Yep, during the last presidential election, all the libs were telling anyone that would listen that the conservatives needed to nominate a moderate or liberal candidate if they hoped to win. Well, they did and they lost spectacularly.
The lesson is this – Never listen to advise offered by your adversary. They don’t want you to succeed. They want you to utterly fail.
The Dems aren’t listening to anyone’s advice right now but I am sure they are quite capable of failing without anyone’s help.
#105 The Dems don’t seem to be happy with 60% of the Senate. They seem to want nothing less than 100% one party rule, the elimination of all dissension, the destruction of free enterprise, and government ownership/control of all major industry, be it financial, industrial, or medical. How Stalinistic. Lenin would be proud.
How short is the memory of a wingnut. During the early to middle Bush years, before it became obvious what a f*ckup his administration was, people like Karl Rove were bragging about permanent Republican rule… they were ridin’ high. They were ruthlessly squashing dissent in Congress, cutting the Democrats out of all legislative action while they held the majority, et cetera, et cetera. And now that they’re in the minority, how they squeal and whine about getting beat up by the majority! Those poor, poor Republicans!
Karma’s a bitch, ain’t it? 🙂
The fundamental problem with Republicans is that their philosophy makes them unfit to govern. Saint Ronnie of Alzheimers said it — government is the problem, not the solution. That’s the heart of Republican philosophy. So why are we surprised when government becomes a problem when Republicans are elected? They say it right up front! What we need it people running the government who believe it can be a force for good. They’re our employees, running our “company”, the United States government. Why not have someone running the government who believes in government? A tobacco company wouldn’t hire someone who’s against smoking to be their CEO. Why should we hire people to run our government who don’t believe in government? As Bush demonstrated, they will do a shitty job!
Of course, that’s not to say that believing that government can be a force of good guarantees success. Of course not, there are many well-intended f*ckups littering the political landscape. But trying to run a government while not really believing in government is doomed from the start.
Deregulation, increasing the size of the Federal Government, wars to prop up the Mil/Ind complex including no bid contracts for infrastructure and personnel – The last 8 years was a scheme to make the rich richer at the expense of the American citizen.
Maybe if you’re a true Republican you were against those things too. But then you cant exactly blindly vote Republican either, can you?
No one wants a Government made car. But if Obama did nothing and let GM and Chrysler fail, the screams about loss of jobs and US manufacturing and ruining the economy would be deafening.
#108 Phydeau
Karma’s a bitch, ain’t it?
Don’t know about Karma but I can confirm Phydeau is – with out a doubt.
#111 Phydeau, the Republicans were squashing all dissent during the mid Bush administration? It didn’t even approach the extent that the Clinton administration did when they had a majority in Congress and the entire press corp on their side. The Republicans have always had the Media fighting everything they try.
Another wingnut with bad memory. Or maybe living in an alternate reality. I remember the press corps during the Clinton years touting every non-existent scandal that the Republicans came up with — it was played hook, line, and sinker by rabid Republicans offended that they could lose a presidential election.
#112 You’re right tcc3. Obama’s in a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” scenario. The wingnuts moan and wail about budget deficits, but if Obama didn’t push thru the stimulus and the economy got even worse, they’d blame him then too.
The Republicans are just a bunch of crybabies… they have no credible plan to save the economy, but they will tear down anything that Obama does for their own political benefit. Thus we have the most important Republican in the country (Rush Limbaugh) openly hoping that Obama fails.
Why do the Republicans hate America so much? Why do they hope that America will suffer?
Phydeau: I once heard this philosophy once described as
“Youre doing it all wrong! Do it faster!”
=)
#115 Like the old joke about the woman complaining as she left the restaurant: “The food was terrible, and the portions were so small too!”
🙂
#111 Mark T. Businesses and governments should be competent and efficient. Businesses deliver products and have goal statements. Governments have goal statements too:
We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
We need to have people running our government who don’t hate government. Right now, that doesn’t include the Republican party.