Arlen Specter on why he’s switching parties:
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.
Specter has a lot of company. After the Bush/Cheney years, 21% of Americans identify themselves as Republicans, and it isn’t because Republicans are generally perceived as insufficiently conservative.
But don’t expect this latest setback to cause any introspection or self-examination at all by the 21-percenters, who instead are predictably pointing and shrieking at that traitorous backstabbing RINO.
What’s evident is that Specter’s switch has nothing really to do with ideology. He ran in 1980 as part of the Reagan Revolution — and nothing the Republicans are doing today is any more conservative (or in MSM-speak, "extreme") than the Reagan platform in 1980.
I read that he was switching parties, but I was disappointed to learn he’s still a Democrat.
Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.
TRUTH IN LABELLING: Specter switches to Democrat.
Filibuster-proof majority, here we come. As if we didn’t pass enough the first 100 days.
Let’s be honest-Senator Specter didn’t leave the GOP based on principles of any kind. He left to further his personal political interests because he knew that he was going to lose a Republican primary due to his left-wing voting record.
Self-awareness has never been the wingnuts’ strong suit.
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Whiny bitches
Truthfullness has never been one of their strong suits – either to themselves or anyone else.
I didn’t know that “darlin Arlen” had a political philosophy. Seems just all about HIM.
When the Republican Party implodes and the Democratic Party continues their slow drift to the right, does that mean there will be room in the political spectrum for a true liberal party — akin to the European Social Democrats?
To bad about his switching. Sestak would be a better senator.
I wonder how the gaggle of Republican pundits who bloviate on the cable news shows all the time feel today…I bet there are a number of soiled panties and briefs…the talk shows should be great today…it’s almost fun being a Democrat again…
Buchanan and others are desperately trying to figure out how to spin this latest news of Spector’s defection as “good news for the Republicans!”…
This one is really gonna take some radical contortions to justify!
Cry me a river
The pod people angle explains a lot about why GOPers don’t care about global warming. Plants love CO2.
- Tom
Shows the chasm between the parties. As a Pa democrat for more than 25 years, he seems very Republican to me. He did moderate on occasion, but only because his base is quite moderate. I expect little to change, he is akin to the Ben Nelsons and Bayhs, which to a progressive is no bargain.
The Democrats don’t need a TRAITOR.
This clown slipped in enabling language to over throw the constitutional requirement of having Attorney Generals be confirmed by the Senate and is directly responsible for the firing of the loyal Americans for karl rove.
I happened to call arlin’s office and it looks like I gave him the runs.
Told the gal I’ve been suffering from arlin since I watched Kennedy’s brains blown out.
First I asked if he still supported the Nuremburg outcome?
Then I asked if we still had the rope from bush’s assassination of Saddam?
Does he support War Crime Tribunals?
Wasn’t he defending the Chinese Water torture yesterday on the Senate floor?
There a room for you arlin but not in the Democratic party.
Limpy Limbaugh must be in full, bloviating spin right now.
I hope Sestak runs in the Dem Sen primary. He’d have a good chance of beating Specter or any other Republican.
I’m fully expecting my senator, Evan Bayh to
announceadmit today that he’s actually a Republican, thus keeping the filibuster on the table.Veddy interesting tidbit over at Kos wrt unintended consequences:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyo…..as-a-cloud!
Blue Texan — why, you’ve very nearly outlined Kubler-Ross’ grief cycle! Denial, anger, bargaining, depression…almost everything except acceptance.
Did somebody/something die?
Heh.
Senator Arlen’s staff is hearing a lot these days about Jack Kennedy’s brains blown out. Someone needs to confront that bastard in public and ask him point blank, WHO KILLED JACK KENNEDY?
Right on man!! Traitors to the American constitution should be left out in the cold.
This is because the Democrats, too, have moved far to the right…I have no doubt that Specter is speaking the truth. The 1980 Republicans DO have a lot more in common with today’s Democrats than today’s Republicans.
Hey Raven.
Yes, the idea of the GOP as a national party.
Grab a shovel and start covering the corpse. The stench is really bad and the blowflies are worse.
This clown’s a duel-citizen because I guess there aren’t any Americans loyal to just America.
Could never figure out who he would support when the chips where down.
He’s had a couple of years to answer my question ” Do you support a nuclear free Middle East? ” SEE.
I don’t know why they are so upset; now the GOP has another spy in the Democratic caucus. He and RGJoe should be required to sit together.
Or who was the only American that can’t say where he was , the former head of the CIA, when he learned Kennedy was shot?
Hillary Clinton:
“I didn’t leave the Republican Party-it left me.”
21% sounds like the 20 million bunch which pays for advertising on Limbaugh. Must be some good folks in the Repub party but mostly it has become a bunch of thugs top to bottom. Bout time for the Clintons, Rubin, etc. to switch.
It’s good to see the conservatives are continuing to keep their integrity and not fall prey to the pernicious, corrupting influence of Big Vote.
I now find my political philosophy more in line with Democrats than Republicans.
Yeah, yeah. Don’t want to hang with the fascist losers anymore, huh?
Lyndon Johnson:
“Better to have him inside pissing out than outside pissing in.”
Love this headline from AB:
http://www.americablog.com/200…..ou-by.html
Blue Texan,
the MC Steele Pinata is now up – you take the first whack, ‘k?
Yes, Steele is the last quote/link in my post.
Recently Salon has been running a column by the “Wingnut,” an anonymous member of the Bush administration for the purpose of showing progressives what the right wing believes. There have been about 3 or 4 columns so far, but it really hasn’t been to productive because it doesn’t explain WHY they believe what they do in the face of irrefutable evidence to the contrary.
Arlen Specter has never been my favorite person, but of the members of the Republican party presently in office, he has been one of the least wingnuttery. On his web site I do get explanations of why he holds a particular position that usually are reasonably rational. I have no particular problem with him switching because if you look at his record and compare it with some of the Democrats who are making things difficult for Ms. Pelosi, Mr. Specter is more on the Democrat side of the line than they are.
btw, one of the Inside Baseball types is saying – he’ll get a pass on EFCA if he votes for cloture. nice dodge Majority Leader, really
jeebus, how very Perryesque of me X~o
I was reading somewhere(could have been here, I just don’t remember) about how some vets who dislike both the dem and the rethug parties are starting up their own-I think it was in NC-calling it the Whig party. Or the New Whig party. Trying to get a national viable 3rd party going. Wish them luck
Beyond questions of right and wrong, principles or no, isn’t it better that Specter will now be caucusing with the Democrats? Shouldn’t he, ah, be welcomed with open arms?
I think it’s only better for Democrats in that it hurts the GOP.
I will accept whatever victories I can get.
He’s happy specter is leaving, a weeding out process of a Librul republican. But that Air Force one over Manhattan was meant to terrorise…
A sane conservative party would be nice, something along the lines of Fifties Eisenhower without the predilection for covert ops.
Will he be bumped off?
Open Left is saying that Sestak is considering running against Arlen – YES!
Wouldn’t the finest testament to arlin be “after the Proud American Democrats rejected having anything to do with him he retained his Treasonous Republican chair on the Judiciary Committee until the day of his arrest for heinous war crimes”.
Good Day.
Olympia Snowe claims she’s “staying put for now” but says ‘GOP has abandoned principles’
Specter is opposed to Dawn Johnson
When he Joins the Democrats will he bring Clarence along to the welcoming party?
Specter just said he opposed Dawn Johnsen to head the Office of Legal Counsel. If you wondered if Mr. Moderate was going to be a team player, there’s your answer.
The Constant Weader at http://www.RealityChex.com
Then why is she staying put? She must have given up her principles as well. I couldn’t belong to a group that I didn’t believe in any more. Fence-sitting in case she wants to jump later?
Mixed feelings here. Another Lieberman?
Simple, because she has no principles.
Between him and bybee it’s like wack-a-mole.
Sorry but I have a complaint. Although the title, “Right-Wingers Show Range of Emotions as GOP Becomes Even More Southern and Wingnutty” may have meant a purely geographical shift, and therefore less a slam against the south, but it reads like, well, a slam against the south. I live in Atlanta. There is Atlanta, a very gayly blue cosmopolitan city, and then there is Georgia. I do not live in Georgia. There is Gov. Sonny Purdue and Senator Saxby Chambliss and then their is our beloved Rep. John Lewis from Atlanta. I refuse to claim the hateful Purdue and Chambliss are anything if not pawns of the military industrial complex, which has more then a foothold in Georgia. And Rep. John Lewis is a courageous leader from the Civil Rights Movement, and marched with Dr. King. The demarcation between these disparate political realities, is the “donut” of circular express-way aka Interstate 285. Please be aware of Atlanta when discussing the south.
It’s hard enough to live surrounded by those who wholeheartedly find the confederate flag appropriate decoration, for anything they can put it on.
Absolutely perfect picture there, BT! :^)
I live in Austin. The GOP being a regional-only party is not a slam on the South.
He can run as an independent and win on his statesmanship alone!
More and more Republicans will switch sides as they begin to understand they have a better chance of winning as a conservative Democrat. Eventually, the arguments and negotiations will be between liberal and conservative Democrats, and the Rebublicans will be pushed aside.
At that point, I expect the Republican party will fade away, and the the conservative Democrats will form a new party.
just in case you hadn’t seen this yet. had me tearing up all over again this morning.
That would not necessarily be a bad thing, as long as they weren’t batshit crazy. It would depend also on big R donors deciding their interests would be better served by a party made up of conservative former Democrats.
Specter in his news conference was lamenting all of Bushes judicial nominees that were left on the table as the result of the democratic majority. He said that it was the fault of the club for growth that there was not a rethug majority and now he is against Dawn Johnson – this is supposed to be a democrat now give me a break.
As proud constitutional American Citizens (Norske ?) we need to weed out the traitors, in either party, to our constitution not transplant more traitors in.
Good Day
Speaking of crazy, the doughy pantload says:
…
Such a smart boy. not.
I remember back when Specter was a local DA in Pennsylvania. He was even more of an opportunist than most even then. Liberal to the liberals and coservative to the cranks.
I don’t think we need another Blue Dog. Hopefully he’ll lose the Democratic primary to a real Democrat.
At the moment goopers would prefer purity to victory- a couple more toilet visits on election day will likely cure them. They are believing their own bullshit that they lost because they weren’t CONSERVATIVE ENOUGH…Funny as hell.
Blue Texan – that’s Jay Bybee’s courthouse in the background of your pic
Like robspierre, I also remember Specter as DA in Philadelphia (and I think he ran for mayor at least once, but I digress).
As a former PA resident, now living in CT (land of the dopes who sent Lieberman back to the Senate, despite his loss in the Primary, and where one Governor and at least two mayors were/are serving jail time after being re-elected in landslides), I can only hope Specter will bow to the will of his electorate if defeated in the Democratic primary and just stop. No bogus parties after the loss. Just stop.
Against Dawn Johnsen and the Employee Free Choice Act. Some Democrat. a-yup.
Greenwald has more… http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/
Will the pen sheath the sword?
We are going to a place where we pay for:
anonymous killing machines killing
anonymous people in
anonymous places for the entertainment of some sickos.
Do I need to drone on about this????????
Or if not, how many wedding parties won’t be needing those reservations.
Every so often I continue to get phone calls from the dem campaign committees requesting monies. For several years I have refused citing their support for non progressive candidates and non support for progressive candidates. This situation with demos in power promising all this support for this newest dino. This is garbage. The people need to be selecting their candidates not the Rahms and Reids.
Arlen has changed his label, but that doesn’t mean he has changed his stripes. He is a self serving, self interested camera hog worried about his political future. Will his votes change? I doubt it.
I would just as soon support a strong progressive who supports Ameica’s working families as to cast a yes vote for Arlen. Let’s hope we get one in a primary. I’ll go for the lefty will a few of my hard earned dollars.
I wonder if Arlen got some kind of promise of full support from the DEM machine in 2010 if he switched?
As an aside, I think the photo that comes attached to this headline is one of the most appropriate in FDL history. I can’t stop chuckling over it.