Sen. Arlen Specter switches to Democratic Party
April 28, 2009 at 11:34 am by Joe Bardi
In what could be huge news out of Washington, Senator Arlen Specter (R) has announced that he’s switching parties, and will run for re-election to the Senate in 2010 as a Democrat instead of as a Republican. From Sen. Spector’s statement:
Since my election in 1980, as part of the Reagan Big Tent, the Republican Party has moved far to the right. Last year, more than 200,000 Republicans in Pennsylvania changed their registration to become Democrats. I now find my political philosophy more in line with Democrats than Republicans.
When I supported the stimulus package, I knew that it would not be popular with the Republican Party. But, I saw the stimulus as necessary to lessen the risk of a far more serious recession than we are now experiencing.
Since then, I have traveled the State, talked to Republican leaders and office-holders and my supporters and I have carefully examined public opinion. It has become clear to me that the stimulus vote caused a schism which makes our differences irreconcilable. On this state of the record, I am unwilling to have my twenty-nine year Senate record judged by the Pennsylvania Republican primary electorate. I have not represented the Republican Party. I have represented the people of Pennsylvania.
I have decided to run for re-election in 2010 in the Democratic primary.
This announcement, plus the addition of Sen. Al Franken will give the Democrats a fillibuster-proof 60-seat majority in the Senate. Of course, Specter addresses this point as well:
My change in party affiliation does not mean that I will be a party-line voter any more for the Democrats that I have been for the Republicans. Unlike Senator Jeffords’ switch which changed party control, I will not be an automatic 60th vote for cloture. For example, my position on Employees Free Choice (Card Check) will not change.
Which makes you wonder, what’s the point Arlen? You’re leaving the Republican party because you have no hope of re-election there, only to join the Democrats with the announcement that you won’t be much help or get in line on major Dem initiatives like the Employee Fair Choice Act? Why not just go Independent like Lieberman did? In any event, expect major fallout throughout the day on conservative talk radio and Fox News.
April 28th, 2009 at 1:33 pm
Republicans did this to themselves…either push back the wacko wingers or spend the next 30 years in the wilderness.
The Democrats know they can only go so far with the hard core left before they risk losing their gains. This talk nationalizing of car companies and banks is already pushing the envelope
April 28th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
Question: is 79 year old Arlen Specter the Norma Desmond of American politics? “I am big. It’s the Republican party that got small.” Does this hack have one particle of grace or humility in his entire carcass? Does he think Congress will cease to function if he retires? He reminds me of a deluded old astronomer, in a fable by Samuel Johnson, who became convinced that the planets would stop spinning in their orbits if he left his observatory. These Senators-for-life who become permanent grandees, IMHO, are like tumors in the body politic, and need to be excised.
April 29th, 2009 at 10:35 pm
“I am big. It’s the Republican party that got small.”
Really?
When did Specter say this?
I can’t seem to find the quote.
Also, are you implying that the younger senators are more graceful and humble?
April 30th, 2009 at 4:07 pm
No, Doobie, I was paraphrasing the Norma Desmond character in the movie Sunset Boulevard. Look it up on IMDB.com. I wasn’t implying anything about less senior Senators. I was saying Specter is a vain, grasping, repulsive old man who thinks his Senate seat is a personal possession and that the voters can be damned if they want to take it away from him. You’re kind of fuck’n thick, aren’t you, Doobie? I didn’t think what I wrote was that obscure.
April 30th, 2009 at 8:50 pm
I can’t read your mind, Rockabilly (nor would I want to).
And other senators aren’t like that?
Just look at Byrd, Lieberman, Thurmond, (and now) Coleman, etc…
If I’m “thick” in your book, that’s a compliment.