Some in the Republican Party are happy about this. I am not. Let's be honest: Senator Specter didn't leave the GOP based on principles of any kind. He left to further his personal political interests because he knew that he was going to lose a Republican primary due to his left-wing voting record. Republicans look forward to beating Sen. Specter in 2010, assuming the Democrats don't do it first.
Man, it sucks to be on the losing side, doesn't it? Especially when you have NO idea how to pull yourself out of the hole you find yourself in. Lemme tell ya...bitter, angry, and impotent is no way to go through life, son. The sooner Michael Steele and the rest of the Mongol Republican hordes figure that out, the better off ALL of us will be. Frankly, listening to Republicans whining about the futility of their struggle is beginning to wear on me. Hey, it's not like they spared much sympathy for Democrats when they were running amok in Washington during the Reign of Error ©.
Grow a pair and get on with it, willya??
In a sense, though, Steele's right. This IS about politics. Say what you will about Arlen Specter, but the man's a shrewd politician, and he's certainly smart enough to read the tea leaves. He saw the margin that Pennsylvania went for Barack Obama by in November, and he knows that the reality of running for re-election as a Republican does nothing to enhance his prospects for success. Whether you call him a Liberal Republican (a misnomer if ever there was one) or a Conservative Democrat, the reality is that he's been out of step with GOP hardliners for quite some time. In a country where only 21% identify themselves as Republicans, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to recognize that running for anything as a Republicans makes for an uphill journey.
While some might call Specter's defection a wake-up call for the GOP, I seriously doubt that the party leadership will recognize it as such. More likely that Republicans will rail against the injustice of it all (Mitch McConnell called it a "threat to the country"), casting Specter as a Judas who's putting his own political prospects above those of the country. Yeah...like they wouldn't do exactly the same thing themselves if they found themselves in Specter's shoes. Still, it IS kinda fun watching and listening to Rush Limbaugh and other continuing the time-honored Republican tradition of eating their young, no??
Party on, Garth....
