{"id":14647,"date":"2009-04-28T13:02:47","date_gmt":"2009-04-28T19:02:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/?p=14647"},"modified":"2009-04-28T13:02:54","modified_gmt":"2009-04-28T19:02:54","slug":"specter-goes-democrat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2009\/04\/28\/specter-goes-democrat.html","title":{"rendered":"Specter goes Democrat"},"content":{"rendered":"

Holy crap. Specter To Switch Parties – The Caucus Blog – NYTimes.com<\/a> <\/p>\n

\n

Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania said on Tuesday he would switch to the Democratic party, presenting Democrats with a possible 60th vote and the power to break Senate filibusters as they try to advance the Obama administration\u2019s new agenda.<\/p>\n

In a statement issued about noon as the Capitol was digesting the stunning turn of events, Mr. Specter said he had concluded that his party had moved too far to the right, a fact demonstrated by the migration of 200,000 Pennsylvania Republicans to the Democratic Party.<\/p>\n

\u201cI now find my political philosophy more in line with Democrats than Republicans,\u201d Mr. Specter said, acknowledging that his decision was certain to disappoint colleagues and supporters.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The 60th vote comes in, I believe, if\/when Franken gets the Minnesota seat. That will increase pressure to find a way to seat Franken, and pressure on the GOP to block it no matter the cost (or decency).<\/p>\n

Specter’s one of those guys I’ve run hot and cold on. Sometimes he’s been a surprisingly moderate hero; other times, he’s pissed me off. It’s worth noting that, while his caucusing with Dems is a party-line good sign, the GOP has shown a lot more party discipline than the Dems. This will make passing Obama legislation much easier, in theory, but it’s not a slam dunk by any means.<\/p>\n

\n

The news shocked Senate Republicans, who had been hanging on to their ability to block legislation by a thread. Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, called an emergency meeting of party leaders who had no forewarning of Mr. Specter\u2019s plans.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The GOP party line on this (so to speak) is that Specter is doing this for his own political gain.<\/p>\n

\n

Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona and a man with his own history of breaking with his party, expressed regret and said he had no indication that Mr. Specter would change parties. But Mr. McCain said he understood the reason for Mr. Specter\u2019s shift: \u201cIt\u2019s pretty obvious the polls show him well behind his primary opponent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michael Steele, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, did not mince words about the senator, saying Mr. Specter \u201cdidn\u2019t leave the G.O.P. 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. Republicans look forward to beating Senator Specter in 2010, assuming the Democrats don\u2019t do it first.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

(The Fox News summary<\/a>, not surprisingly echoes this: “Republican voters had sent Arlen Specter to the Senate five times, but faced with the prospect of a strong challenge from conservative Pat Toomey in the GOP primary and the state trending Democratic, Specter jumped ship.”)<\/p>\n

But the GOP may only have itself to blame here, and this may not be the last defection.<\/p>\n

\n

Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine, who also supported the Obama administration\u2019s economic stimulus legislation, said Mr. Specter\u2019s decision reflected the increasingly inhospitable climate in the Republican party for moderates.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the national level of the Republican Party, we haven\u2019t certainly heard warm, encouraging words about how they view moderates, either you are with us or against us,\u201d Ms. Snowe said. She said national Republican leaders were not grasping that \u201cpolitical diversity makes a party stronger and ultimately we are heading to having the smallest political tent in history for any political party the way things are unfolding.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Interesting times.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Holy crap. Specter To Switch Parties – The Caucus Blog – NYTimes.com  Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania said on Tuesday he would switch to the Democratic party, presenting Democrats with a possible 60th vote and the power to break Senate filibusters as they try to advance the Obama administration\u2019s new agenda. In a statement issued … Continue reading “Specter goes Democrat”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14647","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics-law"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8569,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2005\/10\/10\/swell.html","url_meta":{"origin":14647,"position":0},"title":"Swell","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 10-Oct-05 9:17am","format":false,"excerpt":"I've been tacitly accepting Harriet Miers nomination to SCOTUS because, well, if she has folks on both sides of the political divide feeling irked, she's probably doing something right (and...","rel":"","context":"In "Politics & Law"","block_context":{"text":"Politics & Law","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14749,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2009\/05\/08\/unblogged-bits-for-friday-08-may-2009.html","url_meta":{"origin":14647,"position":1},"title":"Unblogged Bits for Friday, 08 May 2009","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 8-May-09 6:01pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries .... America's most popular names of 2008 | The Baby Name Wizard - Nothing too horrific here, fortunately. . Increased Food Intake Alone Explains Rise In Obesity In United States, Study Finds - Actually, this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Potpourri"","block_context":{"text":"Potpourri","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/potpourri"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":131181,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/08\/02\/the-politics-of-fear-are-effective-and-profitable.html","url_meta":{"origin":14647,"position":2},"title":"The Politics of Fear are effective … and profitable!","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 2-Aug-16 6:02am","format":false,"excerpt":"Barack Obama has been the most pro-gun president ever, based on profits and stock price of US gun manufacturers. Or, rather, the looming evil specter of Obama the Gun Grabber, as painted by the gun industry's lobby, the NRA, has been -- despite never actually ever appearing. Gun stocks surge\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":135457,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/11\/28\/deal-making-president.html","url_meta":{"origin":14647,"position":3},"title":"The Deal-Making President","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 28-Nov-17 11:27am","format":false,"excerpt":"Donald Trump ran, of course, on the basis of what an incredible business leader he is, his ability to make great deals -- the greatest deals -- and his expertise in getting things done. So the federal government is running into one of its all-too-regular show-downs of shut-down chicken, because\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Trump%2Bmeme%2Binsults%2Bnegotiations.jpgimgmax%3D660.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Trump%2Bmeme%2Binsults%2Bnegotiations.jpgimgmax%3D660.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Trump%2Bmeme%2Binsults%2Bnegotiations.jpgimgmax%3D660.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12759,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2008\/10\/03\/the_black_elephant_in_the.html","url_meta":{"origin":14647,"position":4},"title":"The (Black) Elephant in the Room","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 3-Oct-08 10:18am","format":false,"excerpt":"Pro-labor or anti-labor, it's worth watching this speech by AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka, who\u00a0tackles the topic that a lot of people\u00a0aren't willing to discuss or acknowledge, let alone admit to:...","rel":"","context":"In "Elections 2008"","block_context":{"text":"Elections 2008","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law\/elections-2008"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":135321,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/11\/08\/election-results-good-news-democrats-not-necessarily-dnc.html","url_meta":{"origin":14647,"position":5},"title":"The election results are good news for Democrats, not necessarily the DNC","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 8-Nov-17 11:03am","format":false,"excerpt":"If folk at the Democratic National Committee are busy patting themselves on the back this morning, that would be a huge mistake. 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