Arlen

[Ginzburgh]

I wonder what nickname Mindia will come up with for Arlen Specter. My guess is "Arlie" or "Lecter".

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/04/28/ ... index.html

[ClakarEQ]

We're one away from owning the show. Just get Al Frankin and the damn you won, I won, you won, I won bullshit out of the way and the show is ours (ours as in Dems).

[araby]

as stated earlier today, it just gives another good reason for term limits. the career he made since 1980 in a blue state is suddenly in trouble now that 200,000 of the Republicans in Pennsylvania have switched their voter registrations to Democrat. Way to hang in there, buddy, right when your party needs you the most.

[Arlos]

Why should he abandon his conscience? The party as it was when he joined it has changed, as has the Democratic party. The Republicans of today are FAR FAR more rabidly right wing than they were in the 50s, 60s and 70s, or even the 80s. Fuck, even BARRY GOLDWATER, whose name is synonymous with conservativism was breaking with the GOP by the time he left office and died. You can find a quote from him to Bob Dole about how he was amazed that things had changed so much that he was now a liberal as far as the GOP was concerned.

Specter obviously felt the GOP no longer is a party that represents his beliefs, and he is closer to the current Democratic party. If he wanted to stay true to his beliefs, what else COULD he do, if he felt he could no longer support the direction the GOP was taking, and he didn't have the influence to make it change course?

-Arlos

[Jay]

Good for him and I would say the same if someone went to the GOP from the Democratic party based on their beliefs. Too many people bunk up with who they think will win rather than what they believe in. If anything you should be happy since he'll be influencing the Democrats to move more towards the middle.

[Gypsiyee]

I wonder what nickname Mindia will come up with for Arlen Specter. My guess is "Arlie" or "Lecter".

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/04/28/ ... index.html

I think you're going a little too mature with the nicknames - I have all confidence that he'll go the route of something involving a rectum.

as far as 'right when your party needs you the most' - I tend to agree with Arlos in that the GOP is now unrecognizable to the belief system that it once was. you now have a rabidly socially conservative party that leans fiscally liberal when it's to their own benefit - who wouldn't want to realign from that, considering it's completely the opposite of most of the country? in a mostly moderate country that leans socially liberal and fiscally conservative, why anyone would want to represent the current GOP is beyond me.

This could go either way for Specter - Arlos mentioned Goldwater, who still has an entire following who consider themselves "Goldwater republicans." This isn't going to do much good for Specter with the base that has mindlessly followed the new GOP since Fox told them to, but for those who don't vote based on party affiliation rather than what they really think is best for the country, he might very well keep a solid base - republican or democrat, he's following his beliefs and good on him for it. At least he's going toward what the majority is supporting (aka listening to the voice of the people and doing something about it) rather than pulling a Lieberman and gravitating toward the opposite.

as far as why it's a good argument for term limits.. you do realize that would apply to RP too, right? not to mention that the main reason he has an R beside his name was because he needed a major party ticket to garner some votes.. so much for right when your party needs you most?

and Michael Steele is a joke - this "try to be the hip republican token black guy" shit the RNC has tried to pull for the last couple months is pathetic. what a shame that the party is so out of touch with the country and reality that they discredit the intelligence of an entire race by assuming simply putting a black guy as head of the RNC would get them more votes. it's almost as sad as the strategically placed "Martin Luther King was a republican" billboards they put up in low-income neighborhoods around here. it's insulting.

[ClakarEQ]

as stated earlier today, it just gives another good reason for term limits. the career he made since 1980 in a blue state is suddenly in trouble now that 200,000 of the Republicans in Pennsylvania have switched their voter registrations to Democrat. Way to hang in there, buddy, right when your party needs you the most.

I initially thought the same thing that is was, for him, a change to make sure he stays in congress however there was a good blurb on NPR this morning how his voting record is along the lines of a dem, not a rep. He also said he's been in talks to with the Dem Maj. Leader for over 3 years regarding his change. There was a recent vote on spending that Obama wanted and he was one of 3 reps to vote with the Dems.

[Eziekial]

Self preservation. He even said so on the air. I would love to see how many Senators have "stepped down" from their own accord when they had a clear chance of winning a re-election in the name of letting some fresh perspective in. I bet it's single digits.

[ClakarEQ]

Yes I heard that too, something along the lines of "I've been here 25 years and I'm not going to let this go because the odds of me winning the next . . . unlikely to win". Again that is why I was thinking he did it, only to stay in the game, however, and I know he could be lieing, the reporter asked him point blank if he switched just to stay in, and he said no.

[Nusk]

nick name on this is a no brainer

arlen specter = ahole sphincter

i actually cannot blame any true conservative for leaving the GOP, when i was in my young years i associated myself with the republican party but the takeover of the party by the religous right wingnuts has sitripped it of financial concerns and replaced it with anti gay marriage/pro life christian-fascist rhetoric.

to paraphrase president regan

i did not leave the republican party, they left me

[Harrison]

He isn't standing up for shit. Let's be serious here people.

He's simply switching to the party where the majority of the votes have fled to for the next election. That's disgusting.

[Jay]

He isn't standing up for shit. Let's be serious here people.

He's simply switching to the party where the majority of the votes have fled to for the next election. That's disgusting.

I don't believe that. He has a record for service and loyalty to the GOP. He switched sides. Looking at how the GOP is today, do you blame him? I mean, you're being represented by Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, Fox News etc etc. The party has changed for the worse and stayed the same on things that need to change with the times. He left the losing team is what he did. Wouldn't you do the same?