Specter is now a Democrat
Colin Kavanaugh
Arlen Specter, Pennsylvania’s senior (and only Republican) senator, has officially switched parties. He will run as a Democrat in the 2010 election.
This decision will have serious repercussions in both Washington and Pennsylvania for the foreseeable future. Specter had been mulling a possible switch since his vote on the Obama stimulus package garnered the ire of Pennsylvania Republicans. Former Rep. Patrick Toomey, a conservative Republican who unsuccessfully challenged Specter in 2004 and nearly beat him, announced earlier in the month that he was officially running again. With the state’s demographics shifting Democratic, Republican primary voters have become an increasingly conservative lot.
Indeed, at his press conference ealier today, Specter indicated that it was his internal polling that led him to make up his mind. According to recent public polling, conducted by Rasmussen Reports, Specter was trailing Toomey by 21 points in a Republican primary. With numbers like these, and the fact that only 21 percent of Americans identify themselves as Republicans, it was hard to see Specter making it out of a primary.
Therefore, Specter’s only clear shot at keeping his job would be through the Democratic Party. Beginning his career as a Democrat and then swicthing to the Republican Party four decades ago, Specter’s decision has truly brought him full circle.
The impact of all this? Democrats now have a filibuster-proof majority in the U.S. Senate, but this hardly means Democrats will get whatever they want, as Specter will be just as independent-minded as a Democrat as he was when he was Republican. However, he no longer has to worry about positioning himself as a conservative to defeat Toomey in the primary. And with Democrats overjoyed by this decision, it’s not likely they’re going to push him too hard on liberal policies. In other words, Specter can be Specter.
This decision is really all about the health of the Republican Party and its chances of recovery anytime in the next four to eight years. Specter’s decision represents the diminished position of moderates within the GOP and their ostracism by the far right conservative base. With 60 Democratic senators (once Franken is seated in the summer), the chances of Democrats losing power seems unlikely anytime soon.
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