It's further evidence of a Republican Party in steep decline, driven by a misguided ideological rigidity

I think this comment makes the most important point. Until we see moderate Republicans winning in Republican primaries, then this party will continue to decline. I assume that at some point Republicans will realize that the deeply conservative candidates they elect can not win in an general election. Probably many Republicans realize this now but the moderates are exiting stage left and leaving the most noxious conservatives at the podium. And the more attention they get, the less appeal the party has. I feel SO bad about this (yeah, right).

You know who is going to be envious of all the attention? Joe Lieberman. I wouldn't be at all surprised if he now goes to the dark side.

So, Snarlin' Arlen's a Dem now. Woo. Now I'll just vote for someone else in the Dem primary rather than vote for the Dem running against him in the general.

Even though Specter's politics placed him clearly outside of today's wingnut-dominated GOP, he's still a rather conservative Democrat. He may be liberal on abortion-rights issues, but one issue does not a liberal (or conservative) make.

-Z

"Reagan Big Tent"? He obviously didn't get the memo from Rick Perlstein.

The guy's a pure opportunist. Reagan was just about as radical as they come -- part of the Goldwater wave. 'Big Tent' was Eisenhower.

The thing that would've made Reagan attractive at the time was the fact that he and the GOP were on the upswing -- that's what Specter latched his wagon to.

Now that the GOP's heading in the opposite direction, Specter is simply shifting gears once more.

The dude is 79 years old. 79!! He should be reclining in Fort Myers, not running for reelection.

I agree that message has already been sent but as far as Specter is personally concerned he is only switching parties because it's the only way he feels he can get elected again. But the reasons why don't matter I'm just excited a big name republican just told the GOP "fuck you".

The thing to me is the "deeply conservative candidates " appear to be for all intents and purposes to be unhinged wing nuts. The occupy an alternate reality that the real world has left behind. They at this point are nothing more that the John Cleese Black knight in the Holy Grail at the point where the Black Knight with no arms and legs offers to "call it a draw".

What good is he as a Democratic Senator? He says he'll still vote against unionization/card check bills. He's been cranky and pretty awful as to OK'ing Obama's appointments.

The Democratic Party will be shooting itself in both feet if it doesn't run a real Democrat for Senator in 2010. Last thing we need is another Ben Nelson.

My take....let him sit with Democrats in the Senate, give him some lower level subcommittee chairmanships, give him no money at all to help re-elect him (in the primary) and run an actual real Democratic candidate in 2010 against him.

with 4 Republicans (Bond, Martinez, Gregg and Voinovich) retiring in 2010, out of which 2 or 3 are reasonably 'moderate-ish', it should be interesting to see how the GOP primaries in these states shape up.

My prediction for OH: it will be an 'I-heart-Limbaugh-fest'.

I wonder how David Broder will ratinalize this as evidence that the Democrats are too partisan.

If your name is Olympia Snowe or Susan Collins, you've got to be asking yourself the same questions Arlen did. He has set a precedent that they may be more likely to follow now.

If Arlen were younger and more fit, he might have a shot on Survivor, a least for a while. If Obama remains popular, and I don't doubt he will, and the Dems can field a popular progressive Primary challenger, I think Arlen will be forced to move further to the left on some issues to have any hope of saving his own bacon. Actually, if I were him, I'd start early planning for retirement.

Shrinkage only makes conservative types more prone to violence.

Obama says he's 'thrilled'. Now, Barack and Arlen sittin' in a tree... havin' a little talk about endorsements and m-o-n-e-y for the upcoming campaign. Good.

Anything that hurts the GOP helps America. And Specter just shivved them good, even if he did it to save his own neck. Now the Dems have a far greater ability to threaten him, by either letting the netroots have at him (or not) in a primary. He'll figure out pretty quick that he's a political corpse without our help.

But here's the best part: Maybe Spector isn't a real Democrat, but he's just freed up the means to elect several more real Democrats. I say we welcome Mr Specter, and then take all the energy and money we would have directed at him and use that against a handful of weak Republicans. I think Arlen the prick just handed us about five house seats.

Stick that in your ear, GOP.

I'm glad for whatever the Dems got from him for this year of congress, and I'm glad for what it says about the Republican party. HOWEVER, I'm concerned about what it says about the Democratic Party. If he has Obama's support in the PA primary next year against a real Democrat, that will be bad. I have the feeling that the ruling elite is trying to keep the Dems center-right because they fear what could happen if the progressives win more. I think a lot of them would like the Dems to take the role of the old Northeastern Repub Party--sort of liberal on social issues, but loyal to the rich. I don't want that.

This is definitely going to fuck things up for the republicans. Arlen, doing this now, is the best possible thing for dedmocrats. I am sure they had to promise him not to run a primary challenger or he wouldn't have agreed to this. I am very grateful to him and don't mind at all that he won't be a straight partyline vote. This is going to significantly reduce filibusters and it will mean more of Obama's agenda will get passed in the first half of his administration. He'll probably only serve one more term and we will get more dems in in 2010, so after that his vote won't be as critical. But now, it is a very valuable thing.

Specter is a political opportunist, a hack and a buffoon. Does anyone recall his breathless proclamations over the New England Patriots and "Spy-Gate". I do, he is a fool, while Rome burned he spent his days and nights hyperventilating over a fake controversy.

An illegal war rages, torture is legalized, Wall St. was a financial Chernobyl and Specter was bloviating about a football game.

Did he have anything to do with the steroid hearings? I wouldn't be surprised.

Spin this however you like, it's a desperate oligarch, being pulled from power but digging his nails in the floorboards and the world tugs on his feet to throw him out the door.

Democrats are tainted by his switch.

I wonder how David Broder will ratinalize this as evidence that the Democrats are too partisan. - wonkie

Andrea Mitchell is already saying this move by Specter is the end of hope for bipartisanship in the Senate - a bit ironic considering the direction he switched.

Moderate Republicans are teaming up with Obama, and leaving the party that has "moved far to the right" behind.

Maybe out in the countryside, but in Congress there don't seem to be any Republicans, moderate or otherwise, teaming up with Obama.

"Obama goes to Mexico -- get pig flu."

That from Limbaugh. Gutter language. Its all they have left...and they'll have to stoop ever lower and get even uglier to keep the remains of the base. and at this point that base is starting to gel around a pretty dark and dangerous group. Another nut beat up his wife and shot dead a coule cops because he's been so upset since obama's election. Were moving into really troubling territory spurred on by desperate Republicans and their media mouthpieces.

Specter may only be the first. I honestly think the Republican Party is past the point of no return. There is a certain stink you can never wash off..and they reek of it. This is just beginning. More reasonable Republicans will switch sides or go independant. I still say we'll see the birth of a new Paarty and the Republican Party will become a fringe group.

I agree with Steve (and, unusually for me, with Kos) that the optics of Specter's switch is far more important than the substance. It's nice to have a Zell Miller of our own (albeit a saner and more politically expedient one) stating that his radicalized party has left him. I do think that Specter will now be far less likely to join the most egregious obstructionist Rethug filibusters (things are probably looking brighter for Dawn Johnsen at OLC and Obama judicial appointments in general). But on many substantive issues, Specter, Nelson, Bayh, Lincoln, Landrieu, (to name just the worst) are awfully thin reeds to rely on when you need every one of them. (If you added Pryor, McCaskill, Bennett, Bergich to that list, I won't squawk. Ironically, though Lieberman was and continues to be an utter asshole, his vote on most domestic issues is probably a lot more reliable than the senators I've mentioned.) Moreover, unless Snowe or Collins decides to join their good buddy Arlen, my gut says that a combination of politics and peer pressure will make the remaining 40 Rethug senators an even more cohesive obstructionist bloc than ever (it that is possible). Unfortunately, a lot of Obama's agenda may come down to negotiating with Specter, Nelson, and Bayh. Which ain't a good thing from a liberal perspective.

Democrats officially have 50% more members in the Senate than Republicans do. FIFTY PERCENT MORE VOTES and still will not be able to pass their agenda.

There is a large part of me that feels very strongly that Admiral Ackbar's sage words apply here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dddAi8FF3F4

The republican party- R.I.H. (roast in hell)

btw...who the hell wants another conservative Blue dog republican lite DINO. Specter would do just as well to change his own party...except he probably knows that is virtually impossible with FOX and Rush etc cultivating brownshirt Nazi republicans too stupid to see how they are being manipulated by millionaires pretending to be one of 'them'.
Specter just wants to stay in the senate...I get that...but he does progressives no good at all. Here's hoping dems think twice before giving him a committee chairmanship.

For instance, what better "plant" for republicans than to have one of their own infiltrating the dem party and siding with republicans on all the major issues...EFCA, cap-n-trade, health care reform, energy policy. As far as I know Specter has only sided with the dems on one major issue...the stimulus package.

I wanted republicans AND conservatives voted out of office not just replace the 'R' after their names with a 'D' just to stay in office.

I want repubs to join the dem party because they believe in dem ideals and not just because they have come to hate the republican party or because they can't get elected as one. Big motivational difference.

I guess I want to hear Specter say he no longer believes in tax cuts for the rich for instance.

Local Philly folk will want to listen to Michael Smerconish tomorrow morning. Smerconish is still a Republican, and -- while being horribly, horribly wrong on issue like torture -- is on most things an even-handed guy. He took a lot of heat from his Limbaugh-loving listeners for voting for Obama.

Smerconish has had Specter on frequently and the two of them are very friendly. I expect Specter will be the most comfortable talking to Smerconish about it all, and that will be a very interesting conversation.

(I'm assuming Specter will be on tomorrow morning -- at the very least it will be the top topic of conversation)

A weasel is a weasel is a weasel--remember how Arlen led the political gang rape of Anita Hill? The only thing that's changed is that now he's OUR weasel. The numbers look good once Franken gets on board, but the numbers don't always play out in practice. You can take it to the bank that Arlen will fuck US one day down the road just as he fucked the Gopers today. On the other hand, running a TRUE Democrat against him in the 2010 primary would set up a nasty and expensive fight we don't need. As of now Toomey is cold cuts--why make it any easier for him? Arlen is 79 and sick. Let him take the seat as a Democrat and keep it warm. He will almost certainly retire before his term is out. Then Gov-for-life Ed Rendell can appoint a true Democrat who will go on to win the seat for us for as long ahead as the eye can see.

Michael Steele issued a statement blasting Specter's "left-wing voting record." Yeah, right.

When the hell did EFCA become the most important issue? This will be a very good thing. Some people here sure like to look a gift horse in the mouth. Jesus, that is the first thought that occurs to you....that this is a republican conspiracy. That is crazy. The republicans are shitting their pants right now. He should have joined us a month ago when Harry Reid was first talking to him.

Lieberman must have felt lonely being a prick all by himself. Now he can have a special prick caucus with Specter and fuck up all your progressive efforts.

But, do we actually want people like that in the Democratic party?

Wouldn't it be better if they focused their energies on creating a new party, Conservatives Without Goofballs?

Cannot some kind of pressure be exerted on the Nelsons, Bayhs, SPecters, and Liebermans to ensure they allow votes on things, even if they plan t vote against it? In other words, sure if you don't like legislation X, vote against it, but do not stop a majority, FROM YR OWN PARTY, from having an up or down vote on it. This should be a test for positions the party has control over (e.g., committee chairs).

On MSNBC, the noon hour they had a democratic senator from New York who had also switched parties some time ago, he said the right wing had gotten too extreme, and put particular blame on the right wing media.

In our (understandable) zeal to get the legislators we want, I think some folks are unpragmatically missing the larger picture here.

No one thinks Specter is in this for anybody but himself. No one kids themselves that he'll be a good Democrat. No one thinks we need to further water down an already skittish caucus. And if a real Democrat can beat him in the primary, that's great -- but I don't think that's going to happen, and I don't think PA is really itching to elect a serious progressive in the general. Pennsylvania people, correct me if I'm wrong.

This goes way beyond Specter. As others have pointed out, it frees moderate Republicans -- both voters and officeholders -- to walk. It sends a powerful message from a well-known (even among politically illiterate citizens) and long-time Republican that the GOP is too extreme for America. It makes it harder for our own blue dogs to vote against the caucus. It pees on the meme that Obama won't work with the GOP instead of the other way around.

It might --might -- even move Specter a little bit left. When the entire GOP brutally savages Specter at every turn (and these fools are not going to be able to stop themselves from doing that), is it likely that Specter's going to respond to the abuse by voting with them? Or is he more likely to hew a little closer to us and tell the GOP to fuck itself?

Specter's a worthless ass. But this has payoffs beyond him.

But, do we actually want people like that in the Democratic party?

Wouldn't it be better if they focused their energies on creating a new party, Conservatives Without Goofballs?

...which would directly compete with the Democratic party for moderate and independent votes?

Better for whom?

Michael Steele issued a statement blasting Specter's "left-wing voting record." Yeah, right.

Speaking of, that guys toast. Very sorry to see you go Mike, it's been really nice having you around.

Isn't it amazing to see some people here calling for purity. The democratic party has embraced success by being a big tent. President Obama even during the primaries has always pleaded to open the door of the party for democrats, independents and yes some republicans. The GOP is dying today because of call for purity. I'm catholic, moderate, i work for candidate obama from the primaries to the general election because i knew from day one that from all the other candidates in both parties, he has the pulse of this country and its people. I hope that he will stay true to himself and build a lasting big tent majority where dissent is still accepted and where compromise is not seen as a weakness but as a virtue.

The GOP is the GM of political parties. They may someday improve their product in response to disaffected consumers, but their credibility is going to be very, very slow to recover and they'll never shake the belief that the answer to every problem is a bigger SUV (or tax cut) and better marketing.

I mean, the GOP is already desperately relying on a fairly nonsensical version of "Buy American!"

They'd better request a bailout quick, because pretty soon they will no longer be too big to fail.

Michelle Bachmann is now the chairman of the new republican "Energy Solutions Committee". The "carbon dioxide is natural and necessary for life" climate change denier genius is a Boehner select. Just when we thought republicans couldn't get more ridiculous they come up with this brilliant 'solution'.

Feces is a naturally occurring substance also but it seems to have been concentrated to toxic levels in Michelle Bachmann. Republicans pay big for stupid huh.

As nice as it is to see rats jumping from the sinking ship, who the fuck says we want their rats?

Now we have to spend more money on a primary against an opponent with loads of name recognition about whom so many have willfully redacted their memory of.

And if I have to read one more person call for Snowe and Collins to join Spector in a party-switching three-way, I'm gonna be sick.

Have you all gone mental?

We can beat these fools at the ballot box. Hell, that's why Spector switched parties. He KNOWS the Democratic candidate is going to win, almost regardless of who it is.

So why should the reasonable people of America suffer another fool in Evan Bayh's brigade of corporate whores when we could elect a few real Democratic replacements?

Take off the blinders, people, look at the record. Spector is not a Democrat, and he never will be, any more than I would be an elephant by simply calling myself and elephant.

Some people here sure like to look a gift horse in the mouth. -Patrick

As I recall, looking a gifted horse in the mouth might have saved a lot of Trojans their lives. Perhaps, if you want to make an asinine point about not being properly cautious, you should chose a better cliche, probably one where the incurious don't wind up murdered in their sleep.

Honestly, with dunderheads like Bayh, Nelson, Landrieu, and not Spector in the party, and the morons bleating that Snowe and Collins should join them, what's the point in having a party platform or agenda?

This just lends more credence to my theory that the GOP will disappear, the Democrats will become ever more conservative, and a truly progressive party will rise up on the left.

That is the real point: that when Republicans call a president with a 68% approval rating an extremist who wants to bring European-style socialism to America blah, blah, blah, those criticisms say less about Obama than they do about how the Republican Party is out of touch with the mainstream. Consequently, the louder the GOP pounds the table the deeper the hole they dig for themselves.

As some others have voiced, I too am troubled by the notion of the Dem party not coming up with a strong viable candidate for Specter's seat other than Specter himself. Far too many times, I've seen Specter talk a good game in the chamber only to bow down and vote with the GOP bloc at crunch time.

I really suspect that when (probably not 'if' at this point) the GOP follows the Whigs + Federalist Parties into oblivion, Specter's switch will be seen as a key moment.

-Z

"Norm Coleman just received a powerful reminder incentive to keep his legal fight going for as long as humanly possible."

Or to be more exact, the Republican't Party just received a powerful incentive to keep Coleman's legal fight going for as long as humanly possible.

Like they weren't going to anyway, at least according to Sen. Cornyn (R - Republic of Texan Wingnuttery).

Thus this puts even MORE pressure on Harry "No Balls" Reid to seat Al Franken ASAP. And that can only be a good thing.

The gift (not "gifted") horse proverb doesn't come from the Iliad, doubtful. It first appeared in print in English in the Tudor period and refers to something quite different.

I think Patrick is being rather too rosy about Specter's motivations and probable future behavior; I offered my own more cynical view of things earlier. The best-case scenario for us was Specter losing the GOP primary to Toomey and our electing an actual Democrat in the general. That's now off the table because Specter played the only card he had left, but the current state of affairs is not without major benefits to the Democratic party.

GOP = Dead Man Walking.

"Unfortunately, a lot of Obama's agenda may come down to negotiating with Specter, Nelson, and Bayh. Which ain't a good thing from a liberal perspective."

Specter's switch isn't going to change THAT dynamic one bit. They had to negotiated with Nelson, Bayh and a couple of the "moderate" Republicans.

This is a good move in that Specter will now be caucusing with the Democrats, and that means things can get worked out in the caucus rather than person to person negotiating.

He didn't say he was changing his political position, he said he was changing his political party because the Republican't Party no longer has any room for moderates.

I think that message will resonate through independents (at least those who actually follow political news) and can only benefit the Democratic Party around the country, and especially in formerly red swing states like Indiana and North Carolina.

shortstop,

Hey, I learned something today! Apparently the origins of that phrase are that checking the age of the horse (by looking at their teeth) make you an ungrateful recipient.

In light of that, I still think it is best to be curious and check the age of the horse, though getting an old horse seems far less consequential than being murdered in your sleep.

Um, doubtful? The aphorism about the gift horse has nothing to do with the Trojan Horse. You're right, of course, that the Trojan's SHOULD have looked that gift horse in the mouth, but that's where the term "trojan horse" comes from, as opposed to "gift horse."

It might be fun to argue with commonly used aphorisms, but as they ARE commonly used aphroisms, they "mean" what people generally do use them to mean.

Sorry, but not a good debating point on your part.

Please don't take this to mean that I disagree with your general position.

I don't really consider this a "conspiracy" theory, but just one that has some practicality. Specter sees the Repubs moving hard right to the point of breaking the steering column. So he has to get out from under that wreckage. But, what are his options at this point??? Start a third party, one that has conservativism at its core but a bit more liberal on the social issues, or join with the Democrats and try to move them a bit more to the center-right overall, but maintain the social issue position?

I do like the symbolism of this and the message it sends, but I don't want to see this start to move the Democractic party right in order to collect a few more "moderate" Repubs. The rats jumping ship should then be given any type of control over the navigation of their new vessel.

I agree, this will only harden the extremists (and good riddance to them on the trashheap of history), but I don't want to see this water down the Dems.

Some of the borderline Dems (Specter, Nelson, Bayh, Lincoln, Landrieu) might offer less than 100% support, but Obama isn't trying to pass too many far-left initiatives either.

Please don't take this to mean that I disagree with your general position. -Sarah Barracuda

Yeah, I've got egg on my face for that one. Shortstop pointed out the same thing, hence my comment directly above yours.

I do fully appreciate the hypocrisy of chastising incuriousity while misusing a phrase that I've always though didn't quite fit the scenario. No I know why! Facepalm.

I'm going to go crawl under a rock now, until my chagrin abates.

The aphorism associated with the Trojan war is ezactly the opposite of "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth." It's "Beware of Greeks bearing gifts." Or, more precisely,

"Equo ne credite, Teucri. Quidquid id est, timeo Danaos et dona ferentis."

"Trust not the horse, men of Troy. be it what it may, I fear the Greeks, though their hands prffer gifts." (from the Aeneid, by Virgil. The speaker is Laocoon.)

Hopefully that one is not applicable to this situation.

People aren't calling for purity. Specter is a hack, a barnacle on the ship of state that won't be scraped off even with a blowtorch, he'll instead just suck up to whatever and whoever is expedient in order ot maintain his deathlike grip on his office keys. The only message I see is that that Democrats will except beltway insider zombies. It probably means Specter's Florida real estate holdings are worth shit if he won't go gracefully.

Well, it took 30 yrs, but Reagan has finally destroyed the GOP.

make you an ungrateful recipient

Kinda falls under the "trust, but verify" rubric.

I don't see this as watering down the dems. We were going to get to 60 eventually anyway. This just gets us there sooner, thus an extra year and a half to have fewer filibusters, meaning more of our agenda goes through sooner. After the next election we will have a few more dems in the senate and it will no longer be an issue.

I don't see this as watering down the dems. We were going to get to 60 eventually anyway. This just gets us there sooner, thus an extra year and a half to have fewer filibusters

I don't see fewer filibuster on the horizon. What I do see are more filibusters that the MSM will portray as bi-partisan (thanks to Arlen's newly minted "D") and will use to undermine Obama's agenda in the minds of the public.

Specter conveniently says the Republicans moved to the right when any sober assessment of his record shows his own move to the left.

Garden-variety opportunist. Enjoy him.

ckelly:

"As some others have voiced, I too am troubled by the notion of the Dem party not coming up with a strong viable candidate for Specter's seat other than Specter himself. Far too many times, I've seen Specter talk a good game in the chamber only to bow down and vote with the GOP bloc at crunch time."

Yes, in the past he HAS staked out a more-or-less progressive position and then knuckled under to the GOP bloc. However, I'm inclined to believe that his first position was what he really believed, but that he lacked the courage to stand up for his convictions against a perceived (and at one time real) Repub juggernaut. As a Dem, he will receive much more encouragement to go with his less conservative instincts. I think we'll see far fewer recantations from Specter in the future.

But, I agree with others that he's going to be pretty much a DINO. OTOH, the message that he sends by this switch is powerful and I hope the Dems will make the most political hay that they can.

Once Franken is finally seated, I was thinking to myself, with abundant Schadenfreude, let's watch those f---ers stop the "socialist juggernaut" now!

Potfry, this word "sober"...I do not think it means what you think it means.

Call us in the morning and we'll talk it over.

...which would directly compete with the Democratic party for moderate and independent votes?

Better for whom?

By having too many Blue Dogs around legislation would tend to get tailored to keeping them in the kennel and that would come to be seen as the naturally pragmatic and bipartisan and not too far out standard and it would be just wishy-washy and not really work at all and be highly resistant to to any alteration that didn't further its' uselessness.

I think over the next couple of election cycles we'll see that Progressivism can do just as well without them the Specters and the Evan Bayhs.

Also, by having them in their own party they would ultimately end up voting more with us than against us as the alternative is goofballism giving exactly the broader validation to the agenda as opposed to the merely pretended validation they would provide by having them watering down legislation from within the party.

The legislation would be bent in the womb from which it would have a harder time ever recovering, than it otherwise would.

Specter conveniently says the Republicans moved to the right when any sober assessment of his record shows his own move to the left.

That word "sober", I don't think it means what you think it means.