Specter Switcheroo and a 23 Skiddoo
Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) announced today that he is leaving the Republican Party and will run as a Democrat in the Pennsylvania primary next year.
No surprise here, as Specter had become a GOP pariah thanks to his vote to approve the stimulus bill, his vocal opposition and running down of the Bush administration, and his positions on a variety of issues from interrogation to stem cells.
No doubt the challenge by former Congressman Pat Toomey in the GOP primary had a lot to do with Specter’s decision. But in his statement, the 79-year-old veteran made it clear that the GOP had quite simply become too conservative for him:
“I have decided to run for re-election in 2010 in the Democratic primary,” said Specter in a statement. “I am ready, willing and anxious to take on all comers and have my candidacy for re-election determined in a general election.”
He added: “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.”
This has been true for many years. But Specter found room in the party by making himself useful. He generated respect on both sides of the aisle for his thoughtfulness, candor, and willingness to offer himself as a bridge between Democrats and Republicans in the Senate.
It was a thankless job and one where the GOP did not always welcome his bipartisan efforts. This was especially true of the conservative base of the party. They never trusted him, never liked him, and found him to be the personification of what came to be known as a RINO (Republican In Name Only).
Yep. This came as no surprise to many Conservatives. Good riddance! What a slime-bag.
So, he’s not even an HONEST politician.
Tell Specter to not let the door hit his a– on the way. I am tired of lying elected leaders. I am more disgusted with elected officials who feel their seat is a forever conclusion. It is time that voters show him the old age home!
I, for one, will not miss him a bit. I only hope that he is as bad a Democrat as he was a Republican. His image sprang into my mind every time I heard the moniker “RINO”. He has long been the personification of that which chooses the middle because it is a shorter run to the side that seems to be winning. He was always happy to take money from the Party but never willing to step up and make a stand for the principles that the Party espoused.
I would rather have him as an opponent than a traitorous ally.
Good Riddance!
Senator Arlen Specter is in a desperate gamble to retain his political power over principles; his switch from Republican to Democrat has just made the knife he wields more obvious to stab Republicans in the back for his own political gain.
I still foresee a Democrat primary in Pennsylvania, despite Specter’s opportunist switch.
Good-bye Benedict Arlen. You’re just in a lifeboat with your fellow Democrats…in a toilet; your own ignorance will be the political death of you as you go down with the Democratic Party…
Let’s see, Specter called himself a Republican but voted Democratic and now he’s publicly calling himself a Democrat? I see no difference. The true change for me is that now it’s official… The Democrats have total and complete power. Any comments in the upcoming years that include the words “Bush” or “GOP” will be moot. The ball is totally in their court and there’s no getting around that fact. No more hiding behind Bush. Any more whining out of the Left will fall on deaf ears. They truly must hope that Carter II fulfills their hopes and dreams because the buck stops there now, no ifs, ands or buts.
Specter will be the Dem candidate. The One already said he would campaign for him, which is political speak for “No primary challengers need apply.” Whether the One will follow through, hope Specter isn’t holding his breath. However, he just handed Toomey a MAJOR campaign issue. “Sore Loser.” Since he wasn’t guaranteed an uncontested primary little ol’ Arlen chose to defect to the Dems.(And early polls were showing him about to get a major whuppin’ in the primary.) Poor baby. Looks like Arlen just sunk his own ship.
It’s not like he was ever a conservative to start with and yet those in the opposition and “progressives” within the Republican party like Meaghan McCain point towards Specter as the exemplar of the direction that the party needs to follow.
Good riddance to the unloyal old bastard.
Toomey in 10!
This is great – Conservatives excoriate Spector, make it plain they will back his conservative opponent and now the plan blows up their faces. He sees there is not way he can win a Republican primary; so he switches parties to give he Democrates a filibuster proof majority. My question is: Do the conservatives have a death wish? This is too rich!
The question for conservatives is do you want to be popular or do you want to be pricipled? In the new America, created in large measure by immigration championed by neoconservatives, it seems you must choose one or the other. In the America that we live in today, Ronald Reagan would have lost.
if only you rednecks could have won the Civil War. A two country solution is what’s needed. just don’t come knocking for money when your tax plan can’t pay for needed services
There are no tears or surprise here. Specter should have left long, long, long time ago. I’m happy to see him gone.
Has Arlen Specter always been a political opportunist? He rode into the Senate on Ronald Reagan’s coattails in 1980. I was only 7 in 1980 so my memory is fuzzy…
FLASH: Specter Sells Soul in Craven Attempt to Cling to Power
Comment: What soul?
Gee, the question for conservatives is do you want to be popular or do you want to be principled…
Isn’t that like saying do you want to get elected or do you want to be unemployed?
just askin’
A new tee shirt slogan comes to mind: “I voted for Obama and all I got was Arlen Specter”
‘Moderate’ Republicans who are not fiscally conservative may be headed for oblivion. Is that moving toward far right or tea party libertarian?
Well, even when the Republicans were riding relatively high, he was always the Spector at the feast.
(Ha ha.)
Lame puns aside, I would think this defection should, like the prospect of an imminent hanging, wonderfully clarify the minds of the few remaining moderate conservatives (I count myself among these).
Perhaps the most fruitful policies for us to advocate would be fiscal probity (long ago Republicans not only advocated but actually practiced it) and a strong but middle-of-the-road, reluctant-to-intervene foreign policy.
Jamie Irons
This shows one simple truth…A new GOP is rising out of the ashes. When the RINO’s start jumping ship to cling to the SSCARTER II, we can rest assured that the message is getting out. Specter knew he wouldn’t be backed by this new GOP and is now betting all of his chips that the Democrats will overlook his turncoat status and back him in the next election. Of course they will though. We’ve a cabinet full of tax-cheats, etc. What’s one more sleaze-bag? Carter II will now be forced to take FULL responsibility for the havoc he is currently wreaking and the GOP gets to weed out the wolves in sheep’s clothing.
Truly a win-win for the GOP if we dare step up to the plate and claim our rewards.
Nate Silver’s take:
Thus the Republicans [...] are in something of a death spiral. The more conservative [...] their message becomes, the more they alienate non-base Republicans. But the more they alienate non-base Republicans, the fewer of them are left to worry about appeasing. Thus, their message becomes continually more appealing to the base — but more conservative, partisan, and strident to the rest of us. And the process loops back upon itself.
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/
Shadow,
Don’t count your eggs too soon. Specter isn’t known for reliability.
“My question is: Do the conservatives have a death wish?”
The answer is no. If we did have a death wish, we would be willing to sell our selves into serfdom to the state, be willing to destroy the underpinnings of our great country, and let our emotions lead us to support one terrible policy position after another in order to feel good and have those that want us destroyed like us. That is called the Democratic party.
This move changes very little. Specter was not going to support many filibusters anyway, so we can just stop the doom and gloom routine the leftists media will try to use to demoralize any right of Garrafalo. He is a self serving and very unprincipled politician which makes him ultimately a Democrat. One of these days the left will be held responsible for their stupidity and conservatives need to stay focused and ready when that day comes.
9. The Shadow,
Dude, that’s the second time you’ve spelled ‘DEMOCRAT’ as ‘DemocratE’. At first it was a laughable typo on the “‘Never Again,’ Obama Style” thread, but now I’m beginning to believe that’s how you honestly think the word “Democrat” is spelled.
Please, seek a tutor.
To quote Jerry Della Femina, from his book “From the People Who Brought You Pearl Harbor”, when he was being asked to work on advertising for Arlen Spector, who I believe was AG in Philly at the time, running for his first Senate seat:
“Arlen Spector stands for getting Arlen Spector elected.”
An opportunist from beginning to end.
“I am unwilling to have my twenty-nine year Senate record judged by the Pennsylvania Republican primary electorate,” he said in the statement.
That from the AP story on his switch. I think this says it all. He’s unwilling to have his record judged by the electorate he represents. This makes him the perfect Beltway insider.
Regardless of which party wins the seat in 2010, I hope Specter loses his Democratic primary.
Steve is right above. Whatever you consider moderate or conservative, Republicans who voted for big spending are doomed. The GOP is either going to become the party of fiscal restraint or go extinct. Eitehr way, Specter didn’t have a future with them. I hope he doesn’t have a future in politics at all. He’s part of the problem.
Moderate Republican is simply another way of describing someone who is adamantly pro-abortion. And don’t let tell you anything different! It’s the cultural wars, first last, and foremost. This is the question these people are now forced to confront: will I allow the Democrats to destroy the country because of this issue? Barack Obama is severely damaging both our national defense and our economy. What is your top priority?
Arlen Spector is also an economic illiterate. He has no real idea how economies grow and thrive. Do we really want such a well meaning, but ignorant individual to remain a powerful force within the GOP? Isn’t it better that he is outside the tent? That he even considered voting for card check says a lot. The man does not have his act together.
Sorry, I stupidly misspelled Arlen’s surname, which should of course be “Specter.”
(I must have been thinking of that Phil Spector guy, also recently in the news for an even worse sort of misbehavior.)
Jamie Irons
This is fun. I figured you clowns would try to put a positive spin on this and you don’t disappoint! Enjoy oblivion, suckers!
I remember Arlen lecturing us at a Bush campaign stop because he saw some Toomey signs on the way in to the venue. He arrogantly said something to the effect of “You need to stand behind your party’s candidate!” I have disliked him ever since. I wonder how Santorum feels now? I think he lost partly because of his endorsing Specter over Toomey.
I hope Pat Toomey does well next year.
“a strong but middle-of-the-road, reluctant-to-intervene foreign policy”
You’re OK with Iranian nuclear weapons and a Taliban run Pakistan (with its nukes) I take it? We’re in a WAR with these people – we can’t just go home. Either we win or we lose. Where’s the grounds for compromise on national security?
What I don’t understand on a fundamental level is where there are grounds for compromise on the non-social issues? Either we have the rule of law, or we don’t — and with the Obama economic policies, we no longer have the rule of law. Where’s the ground for compromise on taxes when 1/2 the population basically doesn’t pay any? raise rates on the productive to give to the takers?
Ah yes, another Liberal moonbat wielding their verbal sword. Re: #28 Spyker: “Enjoy oblivion, suckers!” If you ever needed a reason to be eternally grateful not to be counted amongst the illiterate Obama supporters, HERE’S YOUR REASON! Are all of these people out on parole or what?
These are the people who voted for Carter II. ‘nough said.
Arlen Specter did not have a ghost of chance with the Republicans so he turned into a ghoul to be a Democrat.
Easy double pun.
“You’re OK with Iranian nuclear weapons and a Taliban run Pakistan (with its nukes) I take it?”
That is a very valid question. Just what is the definition of “a strong but middle-of-the-road, reluctant-to-intervene foreign policy”? Somehow I suspect that Jamie Irons has not really thought this through. The radical Muslims are not even slightly interested in seeking a compromise with the West. They simply wish to win on behalf of Allah. Will they somehow disappear if we ignore them?
JH Spyker, I think you’re the sucker for believing in Obama; all of his words have expiration dates. When push comes to shove, Obama rolls over like a ball.
The Democrats will own everything, yet take responsibility for nothing.
As Specter joins the Party without principle this should signal the turn for the Republican party. The Demigods, I mean Democrats, now have to accept full responsibility for their actions. No excuse that the Republicans said no and hurt their feelings.
It is now time to focus on 2010. The people of this country are tired of Obama drama and want a return to a balanced government. Let’s get some candidates out there and start gathering a network of internet addresses of supporters and start raising cash. The battle for 2010 is on!
SO Glad to see him GO.
57, 58, 59, SIXTY! . . . 61 . . . 62 . . .
Specter leaving the Republicans for the Democrats should significantly raise the average IQs of both sides
boston @11 – unfortunately for flyover country (since they are the ones who’ll get stuck with the bills), it’s the largely Democratic Great Urban Dependency that’s in such an economic hole. Certainly you may have tons of money (Obama’s running the presses way beyond any former administration); but if it went to a two country solution you won’t be able to buy anything with it….
What a sleazebag of an old windbag. Good riddance. The problem with being a traitor is that you are hated by the party that you betrayed and are not trusted by the party that you joined. So he’s really going to be sort of like a weasel without a country. He’ll try to make up for that by selling out what little remains of his miserable soul and voting completely and totally left, even as far as radical left with every opportunity. That is if he is reelected. And I’m afraid the people of Pennsylvania are about as dumb as Benedict Arlen is.
haha – oh man. Judging by your comments, there is no room for moderates in the GOP. That’s insanity. You now willfully admit that the GOP is an extremist party. Go ahead – marginalize yourselves. I’ll just sit back and enjoy it.
In all seriousness though, the GOP is letting me down. I’m a strong believer in the TWO party system. I don’t think it should be one or the other. It should be both – a check and a balance. I realize that is not a popular opinion on this site though.
Each party needs the other to save it from itself. What is so unreasonable about that?
Thank goodness for miracles. Arlen Sphincter has been a moron for years.
Ever since he brought up the Scottish Law bull crap in the Clinton impeachment trial I have always though of him as nothing but a chicken-s**t politico. He has never proven that opinion wrong..
If the public need a case study where hanging on to power is all that matters they need look no farther than this.
Open your eyes America, our political class are hopeless sellouts.
Kick them OUT! Do not re elect these crooks!
Quote: from Sphincter,
He added: “ 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.”
ha ha ha … what he meant to say was ” I know I can’t win as a Republican so I going where the Votes are… I can be whatever it takes to win liberal votes….
funny how his political philosophy moves with the numbers isn’t it now…
I thought Specter was a Democrat because he is so annoying.
PAR:
Obama has a 63% approval rating. So who exactly is tired of Obama drama? A majority of the country voted for him, and a majority still support him.
The stark reality you all have to face is that your party is dwindling away. As you continue to polarize issues, you drive away the moderates leaving only your core base. It may sound like a good idea to “purify” the party line, but the other side of that coin is you are now the minority group in this country, and you’re getting smaller.
Specter said he’s not necearily the filibuster overrding vote. I doubt that, and had he remained in the GOP, he would have voted Democrat on several issues anyways.
I remember Joe Lieberman recently ran as an independent in Conneticut (I could be wrong on the state) rather than defect to the GOP. That was the honorable thing to do. You’re running against one of your party’s principles, but not against the party.
Now we only have two republicans who voted for the stimulis bill. We need to convert Olympia Snowe & Susan Collins (to the Demcrats that they really are) so that we can say that there were no Republicans that supported the bill!!!
Arlen is all about Arlen staying in power. Anytime a person sacrifices his/her principles in order to stay in power, he/she cannot be trusted.
My Democrat friends, enjoy Arlen even when you get upset at his inconsistent voting record.
Goodbye Arlen
You guys do realize that without independents and/or moderates, you’ll never win a national election again? While *some* economically conservative ideas can have some appeal to this group (unless it’s the venal I-Got-Mine-Screw-Everyone-Else brand of economic radicalism that has been GOP SOP lately), this insane culture war stance you guys take on everything turns people off. That means all the sneering, all the calls for MORE wars, the religious wackjobbery, the anti-education attitudes, anti-science attitudes, the paranoia, and the outright racial bigotry that are the benchmarks of the modern GOP have to be shunted aside.
Arlen Specter did not have a ghost of chance with the Republicans so he turned into a ghoul to be a Democrat.
Good one, Sebastian Shaw. Well done.
As a life long Republican and conservative, I have mixed emotions about Senator Specter’s departure. It’s clear that the “big tent” envisioned by the late party chairman Lee Atwater no longer exists. It’s questionable if it ever truly existed, at least since 1994. So, what seems to remain is a base that is difficult to consider as truly conservative. On one side, there is the religious right, the theocrats who want to impose their own narrow version of morals on all of society (OK to bash gays as long as your name isn’t Ted Haggard, as one example. Get rid of separation of church & state as another example).
Another side is the “no-reason-to ever-regulate-business” Club for Growth crowd. We see in the financial meltdown what that side is all about.
Then, there is the side advocating a strong national defense no matter what. I’m all for a good defense as we live in a dangerous world. Yet I have to wonder how a new billion dollar aircraft carrier (the just launched George H.W. Bush ), designed to fight the non-existent Soviet Union on the high seas, will help us deal with Taliban & Al-Qaeda agents with suitcase nukes & biological weapons. And, there are the cost overruns just identified in a GAO study: 66 of 94 weapons procurement programs running a collective $296 billion over budget. I find it puzzling that the Tea Party advocates slam Obama’s spending, but seem to turn a blind eye to waste in the Pentagon.
We Republicans live in difficult times, as we try to grapple with the “cut taxes, but never cut spending” policies bequeathed by Reagan and the two Bushes. Definitely no easy answers, and rhetoric about who is a “RINO” and who isn’t doesn’t help. Because of their reckless fiscal policies, one could consider Bush/Cheney as RINOs.
Hey, before the libtards get too cocky about Specter, check this out:
Two weeks ago, a Republican — a big-time Windsor Republican — was the White House Easter Bunny. For two weeks, Jerry Helgeson didn’t talk much about it, didn’t go to the media, just kind of savored the details for himself, his friends and family. Finally, he’s come forward. Helgeson, a former Greeley resident who also is president of American Eagle Distributing, was the Easter Bunny for the Easter Egg Roll on the White House lawn.
Sure, they may have gotten a 60th fillbuster-proof vote, but Republicans got the F-in Easter Bunny! Booya!
Self-inflicted natural selection – one year and he’s out and a republican will sit in the Senate.
Still – it’s ugly as it can get.
RE #48/Erasmus: [...] That means all the sneering, all the calls for MORE wars, the religious wackjobbery, the anti-education attitudes, anti-science attitudes, the paranoia, and the outright racial bigotry that are the benchmarks of the modern GOP have to be shunted aside. [...]
Yo, Erasmus Obamatroll, go back in the MoveOnOrg stable and get some smarter arguments for dividing the republicans.
Republicans are out of power because they betrayed their principles by growing government and abandoning fiscal responsibility. Specter is a case in point, having most recently voted for the 700-800 billion dollar ‘stimulus’ package that does absolutely nothing to stimulate – only corrupt.
Specter is best gone. Democrats need to own the disaster they are bring down on us.
Ha ha ha,
One more is missing, the “Joker” Al Franken then the Yevsektsia in the Senate can get to work in earnest.
Given the insane censorship on these pages – even wiki can be evil – no explanation permitted to add. Google it.
“boston:
if only you rednecks could have won the Civil War. A two country solution is what’s needed. just don’t come knocking for money when your tax plan can’t pay for needed services”
Fair enough. But don’t come crying to us when the few actual workers you have left can’t pay enough taxes to support all the parasites in your welfare state.
Two words: Robert Bork
What I can’t understand is how Mr. Specter can claim with a straight face that the Republican Party is more conservative now than in 1980 when Reagan was elected. This is simply absurd. After 2 Bushes sandwiching a Clinton, the Republican Party leadership is simply a light version of the Socialist-Democrats. A conservative party could never have approved the Freddie Mac/Fannie Mae bailouts. Yet here was Bush 2 doing just that. The most telling statement Specter made was that he was unwilling to submit his record to a review by the Republican Party Primary electorate. In other words, he is just too good for the voters. Specter is the quintessential Roman Senator, a narcissist whose personal career trumps all other considerations, especially the needs and rights of the voters! No doubt Specter views his tenure in the Senate as an entitlement, the same as Welfare Queens view their food stamps and Section 8 housing as something to which they are entitled, instead of as charity given from someone’s generosity, and the same as Royalty view privilege at others’ expense as their birthright. Specter is a selfish, shameless jackass who should be exiled to Babylon.
It is ok for the trolls to have their fun. Specter proves I would rather have my facts straight and lose temporarily, than to sell out nakedly as he has done. Arlen has no soul and no shame. He will be judged as the empty suit he is as time passes.
The Democrats are busy bees constructing their version of Clement Atlee’s British welfare state as he did with Labor after WWII. There is not a country on the face of this planet that has maintained such a construct successfully. The Dems are busy shrinking the productive side of the economy as they increase the nonproductive sides spending. They are shrinking the side of the economy that produces growth and pays taxes. They are consuming more and more of GDP, which means there will be less and less long term growth from which they can siphon revenue to fund their programs. It will take a number of years for this to become apparent to voters.
Arlen Specter makes it confusing for voters to tell which side is conservative and pro growth and which side is liberal and spendthrift. Olympia Snowe and Sue Collins further the confussion. George Bush did as well.
It is necessary to get rid of these people in order for contrast. The next several years will be very painful for conservatives, as the Dems will have the unchecked ability to reconstruct our society into a western european socialist state. There is no doubt in my mind that this is where we will go now. There is also no doubt in my mind that eventually, when people become tired of the inability of the state to delver prosperity and security there will be a backlash, for no socialist state has been able to deliver on Marx’s promise.
Go ahead my Democrat opponents, enjoy your unstoppable majority. Enjoy your association with Senator Specter as he drools his way to retirement. You will become even more powerful shortly when Mr. Franken joins your ranks. You will kill the goose that lays all of your golden eggs, for you don’t understand how wealth and tax revenue are interrelated.You only understand zero sum equations and the politics of envy and retribution. You will further instability and embolden our enemies as you kiss their cheeks in the misguided belief that concession will make them our friends.
You will eventually create misery, you always do. It is as inevitable as the sun setting in the west. Have some fun with it while you can. You will have no one to transfer blame to when it falls apart.
Specter has a much higher approval rating with PA Dems than PA Pubs, which is a reflection of how he has voted over the years. This reminds me of the GOP senator that changed the balance of power in 2001, and instantly became a celebrity of the left-wing media. Be certain, Specter will be the cause celeb for the next few days with the MSM. The world has become so predicable.
Specter is following the money trail. The Republican party doesn’t need a liberal in it’s midst. Goodbye Arlen.
Unfortunately Eric Cantor seems to be one of the libs undercover too. He voted for the Obama Youth project which is so Karl-Marx-spooky that not a single sane conservative would even think about such a sh… So, sooner or later he’ll “come out of the closet” too. Pitty.
What a joke this guy is!!
What an awesome political system, where scumbags and morally and principal
deficient individuals can be senators for 29 yesrs.
I personally think this should be illegal, until the term expires.
What about the voters who donated to his campaign? Did they donate to the Republican or Dem candidate?
Or he should refund all the money he received for donations.
I say RCP should sue this bastard. If nothing else, he will have to spend millions on the lawyers!
Neanderthals in the neocon party have no ideas that connect with the average American. All their bull about taxes and national security is all they have to stand on. Yet, over three thousand Americans were killed in our soil. Tax breaks only helped the very rich. The results of their laissez faire attitude has now been evident for the past two years. The GOP brand is being marginalized day by day. Soon the Aryan Nation, KKK, and ultra-nationalist groups hiding in the mountains of Appalachia and somewhere in Idaho will be the only ones identifying with the GOP. What a scary prospect for the rest of our country! Let the reasonable voices of the limbaugh, Hannity, O’reilly, Beck, and all hate-mongers speed your demise!
Who cares what Arlen Spincter does at this point? He has voted like a Democrat for years, he’s just now taking off his sheepskin coat. Big deal. The fun now comes in watching him being swallowed up in the impending Democratic implosion. Carter II has started believing his own press so it shouldn’t be long now. In the poetic words of a previous poster… we watch, and wait.
“Time will tell whether this effort will lead to victory or oblivion.”
It’s always better to have someone declare himself your enemy than to be a friend who’ll stick a knife on your back when you need his help. You can make plans and deal with what’s expected of your enemy, but stabs in the back will kill you eventually. The state of GOP right now is precisely because of RINOs. Conservative ideology doesn’t like big government and that is exactly what happened in the Bush era. There is a disconnect between the voter base and the GOP politicians.
Steveg, you mean Senator Jim Jeffords. I brought him up on another website & I see a similar parallel with Specter.
If PA voters are smart Specter won’t even be in the general election. We all knew he was a “closet” democrat when he voted for the so called stimulus bill. More big government, and more private sector unemployment. Thanks Arlen.
God help America
“The leap across the aisle by the Pennsylvania senator is a victory for the conservative base.”
Continuing ‘victories’ such as this will lead you to a place I don’t think you really want to go. But happy voyaging anyway. Now just get rid of ALL the North-East-based Republicans and you are good to go.
Ineffective rump status beckons. Safe landing. Be sure to make yourselves comfortable, You will be there for a LONG LONG LONG time. But you will be pure.
No matter what you say, Specter’s leap hurt the GOP. Specter must of felt that he would not get re-elected so he jumped to neutralize the opposition. It’s time to get him and beat him in the next election. Who needs a turncoat. If he was that weak as a Republican, he’ll be just as weak as a Democrat. He’s still vulnerable.
Erasmus,
Let me see if I can summarize so that I can understand you better.
When a band of religous psychopaths kills 3000 innocent people in a couple of hours, we conservatives don’t treat it as a legal problem. About 65 years ago Democrats didn’t either.
Being in favor of an education system that is not dominated by labor unions and puts kids and choice first is not anti education, it’s pro actual free thinking education.
I guess you will have to better define religous “whackjobbery”. I am certain your target is the 60 million American Catholics who are aginst abortion, and the evangelicals. I would define it as Rev. Phlager, Rev Wright, Rev. Sharpton, and the other lefty religous types who openly loathe the country that freely permits them exercise of religon and freedom of speech and allows them to be very wealthy and influential people.
And when you speak of racial bigotry I am sure that you are careful to remember to include in the group the afore mentioned Pastors, Robert Byrd, George Wallace, Senior Senator Gore, and all of the Democrats who fought against the Civil rights act and the Voting rights act back in the 1960′s. Additionaally I am certain you are including all of the members of the Black Caucus who openly consider whites to be by definition racist and of course the Rap artists who sing constantly of their repression by whitey as they count their millions.
And when you speak of anti science I am sure that is in reference to Fetal stem cell reseach, when it has been scientifically proven that adult stem cell research offers the brightest promise for scientific advance.
And when it comes to paranoia I will just say this;
you control the House, the Senate, the executive branch( where President Obama happens to be partially of African descent), most of the state governorships and legislative branches, and yet you say that conservatives are paranoid. Can you do that with straight face? If so you need psychological help sooner rather than later.
You are blinded by your own hate, it is obvious from your own words. You control everything now, but it is still not good enough for you. How sad and pitiful.
Samizdat: Awesome post!
>The leap across the aisle by the Pennsylvania senator is a victory for the conservative base.
In what universe? Have you gone off your meds? Obama now has a rubber-stamp Congress. One Party Rule. How you see that as a ‘victory’ is beyond me.
You sound like Bahgdad Bob: “Tanks? What tanks? There are no tanks! Only victory!”
hahahahaha. you’re all so silly. thanks for making me laugh.
Lets see, a 79 year old geriatric Senator sees his poll number slip, he desires to keep his power at all costs to his party, his state, and country. To maintain that power base he just changes parties. The Republicans loose a looser with no integrity, and the Democrats gain a weasel. Why is that we have so many geriatrics in the US Congress. People who should be enjoying retirement, and the fruits of their labors, but instead cannot let go of the power?
Being from Oregon and watching our only West Coast Republican Senator Gordon Smith go from a conservative to a Rhino was very painful to watch. Did it help him keep his seat the past election? Did being a kinder liberal republican help him get democratic and independant votes? It wasn’t close. A lot of conservatives stayed home in Oregon because of Smith moving left and MCain being the nominee. Spector knew even if he got the primary victory he would lose to a democrat as conservatives would stay home rather than vote for him.
Excellent description by kenny k. above – Spector, the Sleazebag Traitor says it all. You have to wonder about the quality of this so called Senator’s character, that after many, many years of loyal sustaining support by the Pa. faithful Republican party, he can turn on his own constituents and jump ship. A stinging slap in the face to all who made it possible for him to be there in the first place.
This elitest old sleazebag believes he knows best and his constituents know nothing and he is not going to take it anymore. This guy is not doing what is best for the People of Pa. – he is doing what best for Arlen – what a selfish piece of crap. No wonder that Washington has turned into the insanity capital of the United States. It is filled with guys like this. No Common Sense, No integity and No loyality. What a selfish, self serving display. If he had a shred of decency, he would realize he has drifted far from his constituents, that his elitism & age has diminished his ability and that it is time to retire and help bring another true Republican to the position. This is what he would do if he was a man of good charater – No chance of that. Makes a good case for term limits on these old selfish geezers, don’t you think? I say 8 years and they are out. These old guys don’t undestand my problems – 2 earner family/all the many taxes/health insurance/ and kids to boot. Spector and others are completely out of touch.
Senator Benedict Arlen, please retire to a place where your character doesn’t matter and where you may do no harm. GOOD RIDDANCE.
#44
Obama is not quite as popular as Carter was at this point. Talk to me a year from now when unemployment is 10% with inflation climbing. Rassmussen shows BO approval down to 56%. The press is supporting him for now but that won’t last.
Look at the rating for Fox News and you will see where people are at in the country. BO’s socialism light will fail and drag Spectre down with it.
All Obama has done for 100 days is carry Pelosi’s purse. She is leading the Democratic Party off a cliff.
Specter was NOT a GOP moderate. He is a run of the mill Liberal.
We cannot allow the Liberals and MSM to define “moderate” in their effort to paint Conservatives as “extremists”. There’s certainly nothing extreme about wanting to follow the Constitution to the letter.
When Toomey kicks his a**, we Pennsylvanians will truly be “free at last!”
Funny, the GOP still doesn’t get it. You are marginalizing yourself. You have been hijacked by people who only care about the wants of 20% of the voting population…fundamentalist, neoconservative, far-right wingers. If you cater to 20% then that is what you will represent, ergo you will have a 20% presence in the government.
It’s a circular firing squad.
PAR:
“look at the rating for Fox News and you will see where people are at in the country.”
Surely you realize how this is a stupid indicator of public sentiment. Fox News is the only station for people who enjoy biased lies. Those who prefer news for grownups have a wide selection to choose from. That means those ratings get split between networks. Compare Fox ratings to ALL other ratings and you’ll see how wrong you are.
If the math is too difficult, I can help.
[i]On life support for years, the long list of moderate Republicans in the Northeast and Midwest who have lost in primaries or the general elections in 2006 and 2008 — many of them serving a decade or more in Congress — attests to the lurch rightward of the party in the last decade and the increasing stridency of its conservative base whose drive to expel RINOs from the GOP and make the Republican Party a true conservative party hit paydirt today.[/i]
I don’t see how anyone giving a serious or honest analysis can look at the Republican Party for the last 10 years and see a “lurch rightward.” I expect Specter to say things like this, but I don’t know why Rick Moran would want to.
In fact, the Republicans have been slouching leftward as far back as George H.W. Bush’s election, with his “kinder, gentler America” and his “realist” foreign policy. Certainly the younger Bush’s presidency was no model of conservatism. And since around 2005, in addition to its pre-2006 mid-term rout by the Democrats, Republicans have run pell mell to accommodate and appease the left on everything from climate change to amnesty for illegal aliens. It all culminated in the nomination of the “Milquetoast Maverick” John McCain, and the shameful treatment of his running mate by his campaign staffers after the election was over.
Specter’s been full of crap for years. But can anyone tell me what I’ve missed that could be interpreted as a “lurch [i]rightward[/i]?
One more victory for the rightwing nuts. I would encourage you to force more victories like this one.
Something else:
Specter’s press release read, in part:
“I am unwilling to have my twenty-nine year Senate record judged by the Pennsylvania Republican primary electorate.”
The same people, in other words, who, election after election, organized, volunteered and paid for his campaigns and voted for him for him for nearly 30 years.
He’s unwilling to be judged by his faithful supporters because they now realize how many times he has stabbed them in their forgiving, supportive backs!
Ira Einhorn, the murderer, must be screaming shouts of joy from his cell. His buddy Arlen has finally listened to his conscious.
The 79-year-old veteran? He must have a book deal in the making. Or will we see him on The View with Little Miss McCain?
Good FREAKIN’ Riddance!
Look in the dictionary under “weasel” and you’ll find Benedict Arlen Specter’s picture there.
Toomey in 2010.
I love all these people who say that ol’ Arlen was a moderate and that the GOP is marginalizing it’s self. Notice that most of them are lberals.
Arlen Specter is a liberal. So was Lincloln Chaffee and James Jeffords. The GOP does not need these people under any circumstance. It is no longer about the last election people, it is about future elections. Sometime in the future(it might be several election cycles from now) our nations economy will have decended into a status that the majority of Americans will not abide. There will be high inflation and unemployment, and ascending interest rates. The weakened state of the economy will require turning away from a socialist approach. Our natinal security will have been compromied. These facts will have, overtime, become obvious to the majority of American voters despite the attempt by what is left of the MSM to transfer blame away from the liberals. Americans remember prosperity, and they will be attracted to an alternative political and economic approach.
A party with Arlen Specter in it can’t credibly offer that alternative. It won’t seem genuine and the NYT or, if that is gone, MSNBC will exploit the internal difference.
Liberals inevitably destroy free enterprise and the tax revenue it produces. If they undrstood Arthur Laffer they would embrace and promote private capital and finance their welfare state through permanent economic expansion and ever increasing tax revenue. Luckily, they just don’t have much of an understanding of practical supply side economic theory, for they could become a permanent majority.
Bob Michel, the old Illinois Republican house minority leader spent his whole political career appeasing Democrats. He was Arlen Specter. The media loved him for he perpetuated their sides rule. Don’t listen to those who say it is bad for the GOP to be conservative, they are misguided and don’t undrestand how political power changes hands in a republic. The GOP needs to follow Paul Ryan and Bob Jindal now. Their arguments for free enterprise and capitalism will become more and more appealing as America’s economy inevitably becomes less productive and competitive, and economic misery envelops the nation.
Let’s celebrate the fact that Benedict Arlen is now one of them. The Liberals are stuck with his decayed morals and empty economic ideas. Stay the course GOP and ignore the John McCains. Moderates and independents will be listening to our ideas soon enough.
Juvenal,
You speak the truth. The “marginalizers” believe the earth is flat. They know that the GOP can be reduced to internal bickering with “Arlens” in the party. The GOP is way better off without these types. The fact that liberals want us to have Arlen tells you all you need to know.
The road back to a healthy economy lies in the repudiation of George Bush, Arlen Specter Sue Collins and the like. They belong in the other party, with the taxers, spenders and the unproductive segment of our society.
Good. Jeffords and Specter are gone. Now we need to get rid of Olympia Snowe & Susan Collins. And them promptly followed by Lindsay Graham. Free up some space for real conservative.
Michael Steele, there needs to be some way to rebuke/cast out people who run as conservatives/republicans and then do just the opposite. Having polticians like Specter who stay in place for 29 years is a damn shame!
For the libs who are gloating about these changes, I can only say, conservatives will be better off in the future. And to the idiot who thinks that conservatives represent only 20% of the population, I say “Go ahead, fool yourself. We will get our house in order!” That is a promise. The country needs us and just as the good ‘ol USA is the last best hope for the world, so the conservative movement is the last best hope for America.
So right wingers have gone from being the fringe of the Republican party to its core? All this “RINO” name calling and redefining what is conservative and what is liberal is not only mostly goofy rubbish, but serves only to polarize US politics even further, and that’s definitely not a good thing in the slightest.
When is McCain announcing his switch?
Heh, forgot about our Vietnam hero, McCain. Hopefully, he will be retired in 2010.
You know, aside from these weasels getting elected, there should be criminal charges brought against those who run as a conservative and then prove to be anything but. It is criminal that these people are not more accountable when the limited number of congressional seats is so limited and so much rides on what they represent.
And you libs have your share of disgrace with Pelosi, Reid, Frank, Dodd, etc. Enjoy the party while it lasts. It will be conservatives who have to clean up the mess that is being created now.
Hey BC, so “The One” with “A Gift” is a good thing? Go blow it out your arse.
Jyust proves he is more worried about reelection then actuall leadership and serving his nation.
2. Howard Bowman: So, he’s not even an HONEST politician.
My understanding is that an HONEST politician is one who stays bought. Is that yours, too?
Few remember that Arlen Specter was the guy who promoted the single bullet theory which suggested that the fatal wounds to JFK and non-fatal wounds to Governor Connally were caused by the same bullet.
This is the caliber of mind that the Republican Party is “losing.”
“…that’s definitely not a good thing in the slightest.”
BC, to the contrary, it is a good thing in the highest. When a Repub politician drifts to the left to pacify trolls like you, they lose elections. When they followed Newt and Armey, they won elections. So now we have to yank them back to the right a little, like the Dog Whisperer taming a headstrong and naughty doggy.
Hell, he started his political career as a democrat, why not end it that way too.How could the Republican Party loose something it never had?
I believe Specter promoted the “magic bullet” theory in JFK’s assignation. Bullets just does not do what Specter proposed. His mind is a wasteland given this example. The Democrats are gaining nothing except another opportunist & back-stabber.
The Republican party grows more irrelevant with each passing day.
Most conservatives, like their Taliban brethren, wish they could lash him with a whip for not following the strict party dogma.
Their message “If you don’t adhere to our dogma you shall be condemned to hell”
Meanwhile, the Democrats, with their very popular president seem to be gaining more and more followers each passing day. Their message “There is room under our umbrella for conservatives and liberals.”
#101
“Meanwhile, the Democrats, with their very popular president seem to be gaining more and more followers each passing day.”
Really? Watch him tonight, then. He will bore you terribly. You will ask yourself why. It will occur to you that he really has nothing new to say. The speech will merely be a feeble attempt to rewrite thew dismal story of the last 100 days of the most mind-numbingly spendthrift government since the days of the Roman emperors.
Norris hall at #101,
What you state makes no intellectual or political sense. Liberals and conservatives approach a problem from completely opposite angles. On most issu=es they are oil and water and can not coexist and get along, at least not in the same party. That is like saying that Ronald Reagan and Carl Marx could exist in the same political party. I am not saying they couldn’t be friends, I am saying they can’t share a political identity that is founded on the same platform. Your premise is stillborn; you ought to rethink it, because it damages your credibility its so utterly delusional.
Do I understand this correctly, if there will be a additional “victories for the conservative base” the GOP will become irrelevant as a national party?
To Fred Beloit: I’m not so sure about that. Remember back in the early 60′s when being a Democrat *could* mean you were a right winger against anti-bigotry laws, and being a Republican *could* mean you were liberal on civil rights? I have nothing against purity — like most, I prefer people with strong opinions even when they are the opposite of mine because you know where they stand, and there is something inherently more trustworthy about that than someone who seemingly agrees with you, but is very vague and wishywashy when it comes to having any real convictions. Conservatives use to be all about several key traditional core values: low taxes, a strong military, personal responsibility, Christian family values, and schooling emphasizing the 3 R’s. Now it seems more about bitterness, name calling, litmus tests, antiscience, and drawing lines in the sand. I think a return to those core values is more in order here, but it’s not my fight.
What have we lost? A vote we could never count on anyway. So, have we really lost anything?
Arlen is the problem that has plagued the party for years. He did not support Reagan, Bush 1, or Bush 2 on policies. His “moderate” position on the stimulus was only to get what “HE” wanted. With his vote & that of Snowe & Collins, Democrats could pretend to be bi-partisan when in fact, that legislation was all liberal left policies & plans with no compromise or no looking at how their plans would harm us financially late on.
Those who say sour grapes…. tell us that when the dollar inflates to near junk paper levels. That day is coming. Recovery will mean hyper inflation will follow within weeks, if not days. “Then” the public will figure out they have to pay for these give-away programs. Its not a matter of not spending, its a matter of spending well combined with other alternatives that would have produced just as many, if not more jobs, significantly faster!
There really were alternatives & they really were reasonable, “if” someone on the other side had been willing to listen, rather than just shoving what many see as socialist polices down everyones throats!
Media polls tell the public all is well in Obama land. However, when one looks at polls that are not publicity polls or push polls designed to make Obama look good, the truth is, he is not fairing as well as his sycophantic supporters want you to believe. And many really are questioning all the spending. That movement may not be huge now, but the momentum is growing. Many realize we cannot have all of this for free & sooner or later all will realize even the rich cannot pay enough taxes to cover all these costs! In fact, soon, all will indirectly start paying the additional taxes to cover for all of this & those additional indirect costs for everything will be significant!
What we need is a stronger fight on the culture war front. That will encourage more people to join the party. Economic issues are secondary. The moral foundation is the most critical. Sure Huckabee was a big spender. But he had the moral issues right. Which is all that counts.
SPECTER IS THE POSTER BOY FOR POLITICS TODAY
Time to put an end to career politicians.
http://greensrealworld.blogspot.com/2009/04/arlen-specter-perfect-case-in-point.html
Newts suggestion that sellers of small quantities of pot be given the death sentence will surely endear him to the 40% of all Americans who have smoked pot. I’m thinking too that this could be a very popular move among the 75% of Americans who support medical cannabis.
Republicans have a huge opportunity to gain ground by emphasizing culture war issues. And they are blowing it.
Fox News is the only station for people who enjoy biased lies.
CNN (with half the viewership of Fox) is for people who want unbiased lies.
26. David Thomson: ‘..someone who is adamantly pro-abortion.’ This is the sort of specious, blanket statement that is not only offensive to the core, it’s hardly accurate. Please point out to me anyone out there who thinks that abortion should be the first choice made? The only reason I can think of to use this phrase is to simply be divisive.
109. M. Simon:”Newts [sic] suggestion that sellers of small quantities of pot be given the death sentence…”
Can you back this up with a link to a reliable source that makes this allegation?
From April 7th: “Every Republican in Congress is a National Treasure because we need a system of checks and balances…if just one Republican seat was lost there would be a super majority and a breakdown of the system.”
Seems a psych eval is in order no matter how one leans, left or right. His comments from three weeks ago versus his decision to switch suggest he is suffering from dementia or has become unhinged. If a psych eval confirms either instance of mental impairment, he is not qualified to hold office as a member of any party and should be forced to step down. I feel embarassed for our system of democracy.
Someone 75
Fox beats all the socialist networks on cable combined. Maybe you should brush up on your addition. We can work on subtraction next week. While you’re at it check out the polls on each item in BO’s agenda. Those opposing outnumber the supporters on nearly every issue.
As for the Communist News Network and the idiots on MSNBC, I thought they were comedy channels. I do tune in for a laugh now and then, but I’m sure you watch the cartoon channel as well.
Turner Broadcasting has been totally mismanaged. Even Cartoon Network has succumbed to terrible leadership. Jamie Lynn Spears hands them ratings on a silver platter (her pregnancy scandal prompted many parents to ban Nickelodeon in their houses), but they pulled Code Lyoko off the air instead of letting it run opposite Spongebob. Only in rare occasions is there anything good on CN before midnight.
PAR:
Lets see some numbers to back up that “big talk.”
The very fact that you feel the need to refer to any station that doesn’t further an extremist right agenda as “socialist,” speaks volumes about, a) your sanity, and b) your understanding of what socialism is.
People like you do not help the republican party. It needs a strong intellectual base if it’s going to come back. That, my friend, excludes you.
114. PAR: So that makes Fox the mainstream media. So you can’t blame the media any longer for shaping politics or policy against the right. I guess that means you’re back to blaming gays and dark people. Good luck with that.
This cynical, self-serving move had absolutely nothing to do with values, policy, or any high-minded thinking of any kind- though President Obama surely would like for you to think that.
Everybody knows he did it because he was down 21% in the polls leading-up to the GOP primary for his seat- and Joey Pluggs made a deal with him, he already admitted as such. The sad truth is that this hack has spent three decades in the Senate, while accomplishing little.
And Barack and him have a lot in common- as unprincipled political opportunists, I’m sure they’ll get along just great. Just a little over a month ago, the Senator said in an interview that he wouldn’t switch parties due to the importance of checks and balances.
And back in 2001, Sen. Arlen Specter, then a Republican, proposed a rule forbidding party switches… he was upset when Vt Sen. Jim Jeffords’ left the GOP to become an independent.
Who knows what the truth is with this guy, you’ll never get it from him.
With all due respect, Senator- don’t let the door hit your butt on the way out. Nobody on our side’s going to miss you.
http://reaganiterepublicanresistance.blogspot.com
This cynical, self-serving move of Specter’s had absolutely nothing to do with values, policy, or any high-minded thinking of any kind- though President Obama surely would like for you to think that.
Everybody knows he did it because he was down 21% in the polls leading-up to the GOP primary for his seat- and Joey Pluggs made a deal with him, he already admitted as such. The sad truth is that this hack has spent three decades in the Senate, while accomplishing little.
And Barack and him have a lot in common- as unprincipled political opportunists, I’m sure they’ll get along just great. Just a little over a month ago, the Senator said in an interview that he wouldn’t switch parties due to the importance of checks and balances.
And back in 2001, Sen. Arlen Specter, then a Republican, proposed a rule forbidding party switches… he was upset when Vt Sen. Jim Jeffords’ left the GOP to become an independent.
Who knows what the truth is with this guy, you’ll never get it from him.
With all due respect, Senator- don’t let the door hit your butt on the way out. Nobody on our side’s going to miss you.
Since we dont’ have term limits, we need to at least make these guys retire at age 65! What is this guy 100? (he’s 79 I think) I watched his little press conferences and was holding my breathe waiting for him to keel over or at least finish a sentence. No matter what, no great loss. Would be funny however if this little stodger becomes the one to take the One down!! Sounds like Obama is going to make SURE he gets re-elected. Gosh just think of that… (yes it’s scary-wonder how Obama can be so sure-oh right I remember now-ACORN) But Spectacle is a bit of a gumby-never know what he’s gonna do next.
I found it odd that everyone was reporting so OPENLY that he did this to get re-elected? Gosh I must have had some vague notion that these guys were in it for the principle of it. HA HA HA!! Cracking myself up! (too much news-brain is wet)
One has to acknowledge Obama’s use of the tactics of past presidents. For instance he is drawing up an Enemies List, such as Nixon was reported to have. Names: Rush Limbaugh, Fox News Network, all the folks in the central part of the country who “cling to” guns and religion, (additions sure to follow). I guess Arlen’s name won’t be on it.