Guest Blogged by Ernest A. Canning
The New York Times just reported:
Specter’s announcement reflects an estrangement from the increasingly authoritarian, hard-right ideologues who now control the shattered remnants of the Republican Party. In California, the Republican Party passed a resolution to deny funding to six Republican lawmakers who joined with Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democrats, passing a budget to prevent this state from falling into an economic abyss. In the U.S. House of Representatives, every Republican acted as one to say “no” to a vital stimulus, offering only the very measures that led to the current economic meltdown—tax cuts for the wealthy. Three Republican Senators, Arlen Specter, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, had no sooner broke ranks in voting for a compromise version of the stimulus package before they found themselves targeted by conservative groups, with Specter facing a primary challenge from hard-right Republican Pat Toomey.
It is a testament to how far the remnants of the Republican Party have moved to the right that RNC Chairman Michael Steele suggests Specter would have been defeated by Toomey because of the former moderate Republican’s “left-wing voting record.”
As we pointed out previously, upon the anticipated denial of former Senator Norm Coleman’s appeal by the MN Supreme Court, Senator-elect “Franken…would be in a solid position — legally and politically — to then lobby the Senate hard and directly for an immediate seating, even if Coleman chooses to continue his fool’s errand with an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.” Franken would become the 60th member of the Senate Democratic Caucus, ending the ability of the ‘Party of No’ to block the Democratic agenda — unless either Susan Collins or Olympia Snowe beat him to it.
UPDATE 4/29, 5:55pm PT: In an op-ed appearing in today’s New York Times Senator Snowe observed that “being a Republican moderate sometimes feels like being a cast member of ‘Survivor’ — you are presented with multiple challenges, and you often get the distinct feeling that you’re no longer welcome in the tribe.” Whether that means that she would be prepared to follow Specter off the reservation remains to be seen.
Would it surprise anyone if the Dumbs put Arlen as the head of the torture probe committee?
I’m almost there in believing it will happen
Arlen remember that wile ole bullet back in “63”… have ya seae another wile one like that since then . . .
Arlen Specter(D-PA) formally Alien Sphincter(r-PA) for now . . .
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I’ve decided that anyone the republican leadership considers a ‘moderate’ is simply a conservative who isn’t insane.
Kudos to Spectre for giving the finger to the repugnant leadership.
I think it’s interesting how every MSM report I have heard so far, (mostly NPR and PBS) go right up to the point of mentioning how close Specter’s switch brings the Dems to having 60 in the senate, WITHOUT mentioning Senator-elect Franken. The Specter story makes the Franken story quite news worthy, but they avoid it every time. Funny how that works.
I have seen enough of Arlen Specter over the years to know that I would not trust him any farther than I could throw a Mack Truck. He is merely another politician trying to gain a personal advantage to maintain his place on the taxpayers’ payroll.
I doubt that this move will have any positive effect on what agenda is being advanced in Washington.
I further expect an announcement soon from Joe Lieberman saying that he is now officially a Republican.
Lieberman will lose his coveted committee chairmanship if he does that, so, seriously, he won’t. He might vote with the Republicans, but he’d rather die than give up that seat.
Someone tell ol’ Arlen “single bullet theory” Specter to go scratch. Let him become an Independent, because we sure as hell don’t want him …
He is a self-serving — fill in the blank —
The People’s Representatives?
What a sorry state of affairs our government is.
Except for Dick Durbin and Dennis Kucinich, the rest of them can go to hell.
PS Specter already voted against the Hate Crime Bill and the budget
A boost for the Democrats?
Uhhhhh, not so much.
What nobody knows is that Specter started as a registered democrat when he first ran for Philly District Attorney in 65′. Some guy outlined his past political inconsistencies on the dailyletter.org blog. It’s all on Wikipedia too.
Democrats might be closer to a 60 majority, but I don’t trust him. He’d join the Taliban if he thought it would get him reelected