29 April 2009

Specter's switch is not as newsworthy as people think...

...he just made it official...

Ann Coulter writes in Guilty that when a Republican switches to either the Democratic Party or goes Independent, it is treated as a noteworthy event. She recalled the story of former Vermont senator, Jim Jeffords, who switched from the Republican Party to an independent and caucused with the Democrats. That move gave us the privilege of former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle. Jeffords was lauded as a "maverick," "an independent," his move was indeed, "unprecedented," and how his switch would impact former President Bush's trade agenda and other key initiatives. Lost in the shuffle was a certain senator who got all kinds of pissed off because as a result, he lost his senate committee chairmanship, and proposed a ban on future party switches. One guess as to who that was...

When one considers the voting habits of Arlen Specter, one is led to believe that it was only a matter of time before he would make his party switch official. He had been consulting with Democrats on policy matters and took the views that were directly opposed by his party base. This is the guy the RNSC, former US Senator Rick Santorum, and former President Bush felt represented Pennsylvania better than Pat Toomey in 2004, who almost beat Specter in his 2004 Senate primary. Earth should have spoken clearly to Specter then that his views were out of touch with the Pennsylvania Republican base. He was and will always be a social and economic liberal, why he associated with the GOP requires mind-numbing psychoanalysis. h/t: Timothy Carney

There is one in the blue blog world, who isn't so excited about having another liberal in the Democratic Party, for exactly the same reasons the GOP base was kinda iffy about him...he doesn't vote in lockstep with the US Senate leadership. There maybe a more sinister plot afoot to keep in mind with Specter's defection. The latest polling for the GOP Senate primary had his challenger, the guy who almost beat him in 2004, wiping the floor with him. Like Michael Bloomberg, Specter felt that he had a better chance of winning his election by switching parties. Clever, but dishonest nonetheless.

It seems that the new Democrat is fitting in with his party quite nicely. In his first presser after making his party identification official, he blamed the Republican Party for moving to the "far right," which is odd, considering how he and his moderate counterparts, worked their damndest to move the GOP to its current meely-mouthed status. He, along with Snowe, Graham, McCain, and Collins have caused many to be confused about for what the Republican Party stands. He does note that fewer people identify with his former party than ever before, but wants to minimize his influence on people having that belief. I'm of the Ted Nugent-Rush Limbaugh School of Thought on this matter, let's go RINO-hunting.

Have a great day...

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