Arlen Joins The Democrats

The consensus here is; WAIT AND SEE.

During his press conference today, what what I largely heard is that Specter didn't feel he could be re-elected as a Republican because of the Club for Growth backing a far-right candidate against him in a primary. 

He did, rightly state, that there is no room for moderates in the Republican Party anymore. While I agree that this is true and disturbing, does he not believe that the pendulum must swing away from the far right and their shameful cover-ups of any scandal having to do with the Bush years; one of the most criminal in the history of this nation?

We are in a wait and see mode as we hope Pennsylvania Democrats and independents are?


Arlen Specter has crushed Republican spirits while causing Democrats to rejoice, but his stunning party switch came with a warning label: The Obama agenda isn’t suddenly a slam dunk just because he’s a Democrat now.

“I will not be an automatic 60th vote,” Specter said Tuesday afternoon. “I would illustrate that with my position on employee choice, also known as card check. I think it’s a bad deal and I’m opposed to it. I will not vote to impose cloture. … If the Democratic Party asks too much, I will not vote with them."

Specter will be the 59th Democratic senator, and if Al Franken eventually pulls out his Senate race in Minnesota, Democrats will have a filibuster-resistant 60-vote majority in the Senate, something the party could only have dreamed of at this time last year.

But even though he promises to be no rubber stamp for Democrats, Specter's party switch could have a dramatic effect on some of the most challenging issues before the Senate, changing the dynamic on health care reform, economic policy and it may even tilt the global warming debate back toward the Democrats. The impact could extend to the Supreme Court, where Specter — a senior member of the Judiciary Committee — could be a key ally if the president makes a Supreme Court justice pick in the future.

Specter’s abandonment of the Republican Party also sets off an internal Senate shuffle in which he may leapfrog some Democratic senators on key committees like Appropriations, and it means that several Republican staffers who worked for him on the Judiciary Committee may now be without jobs.

Specter had been in secret talks with Senate Democratic leaders for months, according to Senate sources, but his final move to become a Democrat came after a recent poll showed him badly losing a Pennsylvania Republican primary next year. Specter talked with Obama Tuesday morning, and the president said he was "thrilled" to have Specter joining the Democratic side of the aisle. According to White House aides, Obama was handed a note by an aide that read: "Specter is announcing he is changing parties."

Specter said Tuesday afternoon that Obama told him he would campaign for him in Pennsylvania.

In a statement, Specter said he does not want to be "judged by the Pennsylvania Republican primary electorate." Specter was mobbed by reporters Tuesday and joked, "I don't think Lee Harvey Oswald had this big a crowd trailing him." (Geebus, what a very odd thing to say, as he joined the party of John F. Kennedy!)

See Also

• Obama 'thrilled to have' Specter
• Specter's statement
• Reid: Specter will be 'moderate voice'

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), still stymied by filibusters on key issues, may have been one of the happiest people in Washington on Tuesday.

“Sen. Specter and I have had a long dialogue about his place in an evolving Republican Party. (I believe the word, Senator Reid, is "devolving".) We have not always agreed on every issue, but Sen. Specter has shown a willingness to work in a bipartisan manner, put people over party and do what is right for Pennsylvanians and all Americans,” Reid said. “I welcome Sen. Specter and his moderate voice to our diverse caucus and to continuing our open and honest debate about the best way to make life better for the American people.”

Republicans in the Senate were in disarray on Tuesday afternoon, reacting with surprise, anger and cynicism. Specter’s abandonment of the Republican Party is as significant as any electoral blow the party has experienced over the past two election cycles.

"I'm stunned ... I'm very surprised. I had no idea this was coming," said Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.). "I'm stunned."

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who’s in charge of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said Specter’s move was a pure political play.

“I think it's about Sen. Specter's sense of political self-preservation," said Cornyn. “[Specter] knew he'd have a hard time winning the Republican primary. He wasn't ready to quit, so he decided to quit [the party]. I think it's as simple as that."

But Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), a fellow moderate, didn't seem surprised. On the national level, she says, "you haven't certainly heard warm encouraging words of how [the GOP] views moderates. Either you are with us or against us." 

Now, where have we heard that before?

 Let The Sun Shine In......