Arlen Specter is crossing the aisle
 

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Veteran Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pennsylvania, intends to switch from the Republican to the Democratic Party on Tuesday, multiple sources said.


Sen. Arlen Specter was expected to face a tough primary challenge in 2010.

A Specter party switch would give Democrats a filibuster-proof Senate majority of 60 seats if Al Franken holds his current lead in the disputed Minnesota Senate race.

Specter, a five-term Senate veteran, was expected to face a very tough primary challenge in 2010 from former Rep. Pat Toomey, who nearly defeated Specter in the Pennsylvania GOP Senate primary in 2004.


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Allow me to put on my shocked face...

Rats fleeing a sinking ship is the image that comes to mind.

ditto to what you 2 just said.

or a leopard with a can of spot remover.

I don't want to stop this lovely imagery going on between you two, equating Republicans to "rats" and "leopards"...but it's also possible it's just a guy who's always been moderate-to-liberal making a decision calculated to secure his re-election.

ETA: As a Republican I'm not terribly bothered by his leaving the party. It stinks from a numbers perspective, but realistically it doesn't change a whole lot.

Go right ahead, Captain Renault.

Just as an FYI...I would say the same if it was Joe Leiberman...or any other Dem for that matter, hehe!

I'm shocked, shocked to find out that party changing is going on here!

Haha, fair enough.

It's a metaphor - it doesn't mean Republicans are necessarily rats (although I can think of a few who are, just as I can a few Democrats) but it does mean I think he is leaving because he perceives it to be, as you noted, a calculated decision based on purely pragmatic reasoning. I think most Republicans would say that their party is currently floundering a bit - perhaps "sinking" is overstating it, but that's the way the expression goes. I'd have used the same expression when Phil Gramm made his famous switch from Dem. to Rep.

Long story short - YES - your point is exactly the point I was making.

The guy is in bad health and ideologically fairly neutral. Rather than facing a primary which he'll probably lose, he's taking the safe route, ensuring his reelection with minimal effort. At the same time, he'll probably be well rewarded -- chairmanships, committee assignments, etc. The move makes a lot of sense for him and as much crap as the GOP 'true believers' have been giving him, this makes a lot of sense.

Plus, he was originally a Democrat (at least he was when he was on the Warren Commission). He only changed to Republican in the late 60s/early 70s.

Specter will not be reelected. He is trailing Pat Toomey by 21 points. Specter lost his base. He lost the Republicans when he supported Obama's spending package and he lost the Dems/unions who give him a ton of support when he voted against the card check bill.

Who is left to support Specter? I guess that leaves DaemonSaid.

You know,

If I didn't know any better, I'd say that I have an internet stalker.

Kinda funny tho is that I always pictured my first stalker to be a bit deranged, cuter....and most of all, feminine.


Not that you can't be feminine, max (you do tend to have some bitchy issues with your racial hangups which causes you to whine quite a bit) but...to be clear, A WOMAN.


I'm sure you can post in a thread without making me the object of your hateful worship.

Yeah, pretty much. He's flip flopped more than Shamu at a Saturday afternoon water show.

Unfortunately the current GOP climate doesn't make room for "moderates" and I think that's a bad step for the party. Steele basically chased him not just out of the GOP but into the Dems (vs. going Ind like Lieberman) by pretty much guaranteeing that the party wouldn't be giving him any support in his reelection since he voted for the stimulus bill. Specter's been a good Senator for the state, Pennsylvanians will be smart to reelect him, whatever party, for their own good.