Arlen Spector to change to dem party

I'm sorry, I'm unclear how the electorate showed him any light when all he showed them was where the sun don't shine.

No, you have it wrong... The electorate has made a sharp left turn and is much more liberal than it was, Spector has seen that and is moving to keep up with it! Many left the Republican party to vote for Obama, its a closed primary and so he cant get elected in the fring right Republican party of PA!
 
I'd trade having 59 Democrats the rest of this Congress for having at least 60 real Democrats come November 2010 in an instant. It's nice if we don't have to deal with Republican obstructionism anymore but at what cost. Until I see Specter actually voting for cloture on, for example, the Employee Free Choice Act, I'll withhold judgment as to how beneficial this may be.
Big deal, so he is not hardcore pro-union, his record should still slide left now that he is a Dem and no longer has to worry about kowtowing certain votes to the right in order to get through the primaries.
 
No, you have it wrong... The electorate has made a sharp left turn and is much more liberal than it was, Spector has seen that and is moving to keep up with it! Many left the Republican party to vote for Obama, its a closed primary and so he cant get elected in the fring right Republican party of PA!
Sharp left turn? No, many are pissed at how big government has grown and see Obama as some sort of messiah of hope and/or centrist by speech.
 
No he wasn't, he was center left, same as Specter, Snowe and Collins. As usual you have no clue what you are talking about.

Specter is centrist, Snowe and Collins are center-right. They just don't buy into modern Republican extremism. There are three centre-right Republicans, and 37 far right extremists. Chaffee was the last centre-left Republican, and he was a lot better than most pussy Democrats.
 
Specter is centrist, Snowe and Collins are center-right. They just don't buy into modern Republican extremism. There are three centre-right Republicans, and 37 far right extremists. Chaffee was the last centre-left Republican, and he was a lot better than most pussy Democrats.

you're a fucking idiot. You can't call 37 senators far right extremeists when they are the bulk of the republicans in the senate. Too fucking bad for you watermark, but they are simply right, not far right.
 
lol what a shocker. Truth be told he's been a dem all along. I hate that guy,

Oh what do you know about Specter? He's a right of center moderate and you damned well know there's no place for a moderate in the Republican party. If he wasn't retiring George Voinavich would probably switch sides too.
 
In fact if the Republican party was more like Specter and less like Rush Limbaugh I'd still probably be a Republican.....and Specter would be too. I think this is hillarious. Dems hit the magic 60! LOL
 
I agree totally with the first part of this.......he's definitely more a democrat than a republican in policy.

Well hell that aint saying much. Anyone slightly to the left of Attila the Hun is a no good commie pinko liberal by present Republican standards. Hell Richard Nixon would be a Democrat by todays current extremist who dominate the Republican party.
 
Oh no the Democrat party might actually get another rare moderate voting senator.
Along with Bill Nelson and Byrd that would bring you up to a total of 3 !

I rarely come on here now as this country is sliding into the shitter with massive growth in government and no real end in sight and today I actually expected the liberals on here to be rejoicing at the prospect of a filibuster-proof majority and total absolute control far beyond what Repubs ever came close to but typical lefties just want to complain and find something negative.
Funny you mock the Dem party for it's low moderate membership in the senate, but the Republicans are doing everything they can to chase out and minimize their own moderates. I am surprised that Snow didn't go too. The republican party HATES moderates, and even Graham from South Carolina today was warning of the republicans become a purely regional party. This bed was made by the uber right in the republican party.
 
He left the party before the party left him. Polls were showing he was trailing Toomey by 21 percentage points.

He's been a "stick my finger in the air and see which way the wind blows" politician for years. His switch is so he can keep his job. Make no mistake, that he'll vote the majority opinion no matter party.
 
PA is a closed primary state and a lot of people switched to Democratic to vote in the Democratic presidential primary leaving the PA Republican Party fairly hardcore "conservative" types. Given the change in demographics among the Republican primary electorate and the close call back in 2002 when challenged by Toomey, he didn't stand a chance.

What bothers me most about this is that the PA Democratic machine will accept him with open arms so instead of having a real legitimate liberal Democrat pitted against the insane Toomey we get more mushy middle Specter.

The only problem with that analysis is that PA is mostly a mushy middle right of center State. Specter has served his state well as a moderate Republican and he will do so as a blue dog Moderate Democrat. What's the difference between Specter and PA's other Democrat Senator? Not a dimes worth.
 
The only problem with that analysis is that PA is mostly a mushy middle right of center State. Specter has served his state well as a moderate Republican and he will do so as a blue dog Moderate Democrat. What's the difference between Specter and PA's other Democrat Senator? Not a dimes worth.


There is plenty of difference between Bob Casey and Arlen Specter. Now, maybe Specter will vote more along the lines of Bob Casey on a going-forward basis but they are not the same by any stretch of the imagination. You will not find a Democrat that will introduce flat-tax legislation. That's the sort of shit that's right up Specter's alley. In the 110th Congress Casey was the 36th most liberal member of the Senate. Specter ranked 56th.

PA isn't all that much of a mushy middle state. It is trending liberal. The way I figure it, for putting up with Rick Santorum the liberals of PA deserve to have at least one bonafide liberal representing them in the Senate. Instead, they get Bob Casey, more moderate than liberal and Specter and firmly entrenched member of the mushy middle.
 
He left the party before the party left him. Polls were showing he was trailing Toomey by 21 percentage points.

Exactly my point! He is switching in order to keep his senecured position, nothing more. He will continue to vote with whatever the majority opinion is...end of story.
 
He left the party before the party left him. Polls were showing he was trailing Toomey by 21 percentage points.
"Don't let the door hit you on the ass on the way out" is pretty much my sentiment. What an asshole. This traitorous act will hopefully give Toomey what he needs to toss Spector out for good.
 
Funny you mock the Dem party for it's low moderate membership in the senate, but the Republicans are doing everything they can to chase out and minimize their own moderates. I am surprised that Snow didn't go too. The republican party HATES moderates, and even Graham from South Carolina today was warning of the republicans become a purely regional party. This bed was made by the uber right in the republican party.

That's your perception and I know it's a popular one but consider what is it that makes the Repubs look far right?

The Iraq war was popular when it started and VERY mainstream, so much so that politicians in swing states risked losing if they did not support it.
Ditto for gay marriage (which wasn't legal in the 80's or 90's either and no one cared or would dare to suggest it).

In other words the perception that they are far right derives from the current time and not from their actions.

While on economic issues, many of the Repubs have just been weaker versions of the Dems with supporting more government in every area. I could only hope they were even semi-right with some actual reductions but it isn't so.

I said what I did based on voting records, specifically lifetime voting records (as obviously certain years may be abnormal). I judge a moderate as someone who votes between 25% to 75% for the Liberal or Conservative side. Seems as fair as any measurement.
Based on that, the Dems have 2 moderates: Byrd and Nelson
The Repubs have 10 moderates: Shelby, Stevens, Murkowski, Snowe, Collins, Coleman, Domenici (your senator), Voinovich, Smith and Specter.
 
"Don't let the door hit you on the ass on the way out" is pretty much my sentiment. What an asshole. This traitorous act will hopefully give Toomey what he needs to toss Spector out for good.


I'll do a signature and avatar wager for you on this one. Toomey loses by at least 10 points against Specter or any Democratic nominee.
 
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