ARLEN SPECTER TO BECOME A DEMOCRAT.
ARLEN SPECTER TO BECOME A DEMOCRAT.
ZONEACE
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/10/05
#1ARLEN SPECTER TO BECOME A DEMOCRAT.
Posted: 4/28/09 at 12:26pm
on CNN right now.
when ducks grow thumbs then maybe my opinion will change.
Roscoe
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#2re: ARLEN SPECTER TO BECOME A DEMOCRAT.
Posted: 4/28/09 at 12:29pm
The betrayal. The shock.
I wonder what the deal breaker finally was for old Specter? After all those years in the Senate, what finally made him decide to desert the sinking ship?
Arlen "Rat" Specter. Traitor to his own party. I'm sure they'll be gentle with him in this delicate time of transition.
"If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about the answers." Thomas Pynchon, GRAVITY'S RAINBOW
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." Philip K. Dick
My blog: http://www.roscoewrites.blogspot.com/
ZONEACE
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/10/05
#2re: ARLEN SPECTER TO BECOME A DEMOCRAT.
Posted: 4/28/09 at 12:30pm
when ducks grow thumbs then maybe my opinion will change.
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#3re: ARLEN SPECTER TO BECOME A DEMOCRAT.
Posted: 4/28/09 at 12:38pmRoscoe, I beleive that like Millions of Americans, Specter was repulsed by the rightward march in his party and could take it no more.
#4re: ARLEN SPECTER TO BECOME A DEMOCRAT.
Posted: 4/28/09 at 12:44pmBottom line: like every other politician, Specter's primary concern is getting re-elected. His chances just got exponentially better.
"It does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are 20 gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg."
-- Thomas Jefferson
#5re: ARLEN SPECTER TO BECOME A DEMOCRAT.
Posted: 4/28/09 at 12:44pmWell, we sure got us a prize. Oy.
....but the world goes 'round
brdlwyr
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/14/05
#6re: ARLEN SPECTER TO BECOME A DEMOCRAT.
Posted: 4/28/09 at 12:45pmI have mostly found Specter to be reasonable. It is obvious that he is worried about his future as a Senator.
Roscoe
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#7re: ARLEN SPECTER TO BECOME A DEMOCRAT.
Posted: 4/28/09 at 12:47pm
Right because little Specter just didn't see how rightward his party has been marching since 1980.
Yeah, right.
While the Republicans were torturing and invading Iraq and destroying the economy, he stayed a loyal Republican. Now that the Republican party isn't fashionable anymore, he's decided to dump his party and go Democrat.
Don't trust him. Once a Republican, always a Republican.
"If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about the answers." Thomas Pynchon, GRAVITY'S RAINBOW
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." Philip K. Dick
My blog: http://www.roscoewrites.blogspot.com/
Gothampc
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#8re: ARLEN SPECTER TO BECOME A DEMOCRAT.
Posted: 4/28/09 at 12:47pmI hope he takes McCain and those two Maine cows with him.
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
Roscoe
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#9re: ARLEN SPECTER TO BECOME A DEMOCRAT.
Posted: 4/28/09 at 12:48pm
Ugh, nobody wants McCain.
"If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about the answers." Thomas Pynchon, GRAVITY'S RAINBOW
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." Philip K. Dick
My blog: http://www.roscoewrites.blogspot.com/
Updated On: 4/28/09 at 12:48 PM
#10re: ARLEN SPECTER TO BECOME A DEMOCRAT.
Posted: 4/28/09 at 12:49pmHe was just worried he might lose the Republican primary to Pat Toomey.
"This show had the WORST magnets on Broadway!"
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#11re: ARLEN SPECTER TO BECOME A DEMOCRAT.
Posted: 4/28/09 at 1:31pm
Wow- sounds like Snowe is right behind him--- did she really refer to the republicans as "they"?
"But Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) a fellow moderate, didn't seem surprised. On the national level, she says, "you haven't certainly heard warm encouraging words of how they [Republicans] view moderates. Either you are with us or against us."
?Ultimately we're heading to having the smallest political tent in history they way things are unfolding,? Snowe said. ?We should have learned from the 2006 election, which I was a party of. I happened to win with 74% of the vote in a blue collar state but no one asked me how did you do it. Seems to me that would have been the first question that would have come from the Republican party to find out so we could avoid further losses." "
#12re: ARLEN SPECTER TO BECOME A DEMOCRAT.
Posted: 4/28/09 at 1:43pm
RNC Chairman Steele's comment strikes me as contradictory:
"Let's be honest -- Sen. 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."
If Specter's voting record is 'left-wing' isn't his switch to the Dems completely consistent with his principles?
"It does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are 20 gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg."
-- Thomas Jefferson
JudasIscariot
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/20/05
#13re: ARLEN SPECTER TO BECOME A DEMOCRAT.
Posted: 4/28/09 at 2:01pmHe is saying that it wasn't any objection to Republican principles that made him leave (like if Republicans announced all of a sudden that they were going to start eating children), but rather he saw it as a chance to advance his political career. Principles weren't even taken into consideration when deciding to switch. The statement seems contradictory at first glance, but it isn't. The move was ONLY made to ensure he got elected. He was fine enough to stay with the Republicans for years until he saw that they were probably not going to win the next couple of elections.
#14re: ARLEN SPECTER TO BECOME A DEMOCRAT.
Posted: 4/28/09 at 2:02pmMy friend saw him in the elevator of one of the Senate buildings when we lived in D.C. She's originally from PA so she was really excited but couldn't think of a non-awkward way to strike up a conversation, lol. That's pretty random but anyways, yay for gaining another Democrat! I wonder if they'll re-arrange the seating chart....heh.
"You don't just stop posting horse s*** on the web!"-The [Title of Show] Show
#15arlen spector to join phil
Posted: 4/28/09 at 2:09pmoh arlen, i can't wait until you're faced with a real democrat in the primary. does he really think that the democrats are going to simply welcome him with open arms? it's arrogant and foolish, but then so is he.
r.i.p. marco, my guardian angel.
...global warming can manifest itself as heat, cool, precipitation, storms, drought, wind, or any other phenomenon, much like a shapeshifter. -- jim geraghty
pray to st. jude
i'm a sonic reducer
he was the gimmicky sort
fenchurch=mejusthavingfun=magwildwood=mmousefan=bkcollector=bradmajors=somethingtotalkabout: the fenchurch mpd collective
...global warming can manifest itself as heat, cool, precipitation, storms, drought, wind, or any other phenomenon, much like a shapeshifter. -- jim geraghty
pray to st. jude
i'm a sonic reducer
he was the gimmicky sort
fenchurch=mejusthavingfun=magwildwood=mmousefan=bkcollector=bradmajors=somethingtotalkabout: the fenchurch mpd collective
JudasIscariot
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/20/05
Roscoe
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#18arlen spector to join phil
Posted: 4/28/09 at 2:35pmEven better. Specter is willing to say and do anything to ensure he gets elected. He'll fit in well with the Obama administration.
"If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about the answers." Thomas Pynchon, GRAVITY'S RAINBOW
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." Philip K. Dick
My blog: http://www.roscoewrites.blogspot.com/
Gothampc
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#19arlen spector to join phil
Posted: 4/28/09 at 2:37pmIt was a foolish move on his part. Now the GOP will put their money behind his opponent to win. It's the Joe Lieberman situation in reverse.
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
#20arlen spector to join phil
Posted: 4/28/09 at 2:42pm
Goth, I'm so sorry to hear about the demise of your political party.
I'm sure they'll have another one for you soon.
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#21arlen spector to join phil
Posted: 4/28/09 at 2:46pm
"It was a foolish move on his part. Now the GOP will put their money behind his opponent to win. It's the Joe Lieberman situation in reverse."
Yes because that turned out so poorly for Lieberman. What's he doing these days?
WOSQ
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/18/03
#22Arlen Spector
Posted: 4/28/09 at 2:57pm
Here is where age and geography can give a little perspective. I grew up in the Philly metro area in the 60s.
Now the national GOP knows how the Pennsylvania Democrats felt when Specter deserted the Democrats to run for Senate as a Republican!
Arlen Specter was the Philadelphia District Attorney as a Democrat for a while--2-3 terms, maybe more. He also was the lead attorney on the Warren Commission in 1964; a Democrat appointed by a Democrat.
As hard as the GOP says "good riddance" and all that, maybe the Penna Democrats ought to just say "welcome back".
Yes, this is happening to save his political ass, but he's already done it once.
In 1980 the GOP was a vastly different ideology than it is today. The Senate was loaded with Republican moderates. Spector (and the two from Maine) have just stayed at the GOP dance too long. Spector is only a liberal in the Republican party. In the larger picture he is center.
Toomey is close to a nut case who is owned by the rich and stupid. He would marginalize the residents of the Commonwealth with his extreme ideology.
What's that about winning the battle but losing the war?
Edit: Well the gist is right but the details are way wrong. He switched to the GOP to run for DA in 1965.
"If my life weren't funny, it would just be true. And that would be unacceptable."
--Carrie Fisher
Updated On: 4/28/09 at 02:57 PM
Mr Roxy
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/17/03
#23Arlen Spector
Posted: 4/28/09 at 7:43pm
They deserve each other. He was a Republican like Mike Bloomberg was
The only question now is when he will get the old Dem knife in the back from his new buddies.
Poster Emeritus
JohnBoy2
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/21/06
#24Arlen Spector
Posted: 4/28/09 at 7:55pmArlen (I defended the Unicorn Killer) Spector now makes the Senate filibuster-proof. Last time we had that was during the Carter Administration. Worked out swell for old Jimmy, didn't it?
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