Results 1 to 10 of 19
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04-28-2009, 01:16 PM #1
Longtime GOP Sen. Arlen Specter becomes Democrat
Longtime GOP Sen. Arlen Specter becomes Democrat
Veteran Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter told colleagues Tuesday that he switched from the Republican to the Democratic Party, Sen. Harry Reid says.
The Specter party switch would give Democrats a filibuster-proof Senate majority of 60 seats if Al Franken holds his current lead in the disputed Minnesota Senate race.
"Since my election in 1980, as part of the Reagan Big Tent, the Republican Party has moved far to the right," Specter said in a statement posted by his office on PoliticsPA.com.
"Last year, more than 200,000 Republicans in Pennsylvania changed their registration to become Democrats. I now find my political philosophy more in line with Democrats than Republicans."
What I don't understand is he was Republican under Regan, but now says the Republicans are moving too far right? I'd like an explanation of that...
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04-28-2009, 01:17 PM #2
guy is crazy if anything democrats would be moving to republican under Obama lol
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04-28-2009, 02:10 PM #3
He was probably just trying to make Jeffords look like a wimp.
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04-28-2009, 02:37 PM #4
I want people to give me specific examples when they say their party is becoming too extreme. I'm a member of neither party, and see the Republican Party as pretty much the same as always.
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04-28-2009, 03:00 PM #5
Actually, if anything, the Republican party is becoming more liberal. They definitely spend like liberals...
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04-28-2009, 05:12 PM #6
That's what a Neo-conservative is. If y'all don't like that, y'all should never have let those people take over y'all's party.
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04-28-2009, 06:06 PM #7
Its to give him the best chance at reelection. This is the best example of whats wrong with america, and why we need term limits across the board. he cares about himself, nothign else.
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04-28-2009, 08:14 PM #8
I completely agree with you....when I read the article, that's the first thing that came to my mind...he wants re-elected and he's trying to position himself with the best chance to win
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04-28-2009, 08:31 PM #9
Believe me, it wasn't by my choice.
The more I think about this, the more I think he's being paid off somehow. Maybe I'm just being paranoid, but it seems weird that he changes at this point. He's been a Republican Senator for decades...the Republican party is actually more liberal now than it has been any other time during his tenure...there has been Democrat controlled Congresses during his tenure...during the Clinton years, it was more advantageous for re-election to be a Democrat. So why now, when the Democrats only need one more Senator to have a fillibuster-proof majority?
Like I said, maybe I'm paranoid, but it just seems odd to me.
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04-29-2009, 10:44 AM #10
Specter admits party switch driven by desire to keep seat
Arlen Specter, the longtime Republican senator who switched parties Tuesday, admitted Wednesday the move was driven partly by a desire to keep his seat.
The senator, who has represented Pennsylvania in the upper chamber since 1980, said he was "anxious" to stay in the Senate — and he did not want to face a Republican primary in order to keep his seat next year.
"I was unwilling to subject my 29-year record in the U.S. Senate to the Pennsylvania Republican primary electorate," he said. "But I am pleased to run in the primary on the Democratic ticket and am ready, willing and anxious to take on all comers in the general election."
I guess you guys were right.
Here's one thing that burned me up. I usually don't look at the comments because most of them are ridiculously idiotic, but I caught a glimpse of the top one:
I think this move is brilliant! It should send a clear message to the gop that they have seriously lost there way. This may be a start to rebuild the Republican party. That is , if they have the good sense to learn a lesson from this. But i will not hold my breath.
The article says Specter would recieve tough competition in a Republican primary from Pat Toomey, "who falls to [Specter's] right on the political spectrum." So Specter feels that someone who is more conservative than him could beat him in a Republican primary and feels that his positions now align more with the Democratic party...but somehow it's the Republican party that has lost it's way? Granted, I do believe the Republican party has lost it's way, but it's because it is more liberal now...to say it has lost it's way because a conservative would beat someone who's beliefs are more liberal is simply ignorant.
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Originally Posted by OnePimpTiger 
