When is Reid going to follow his conscience and switch to the party that warms his heart?

Hell, anyone with even a modicum of common sense knew Specter was a Republican in name only (RINO).

Guess everyone, including the mentally challenged, will know he's a Democrat now.

Now if someone will please just put their foot down and actually make sure Sebelius finally gets approved so we can have a Secretary of Health and Human Services, we can call it a day.

Might want to pay a little bit of attention to that too Salon.

Does this mean we'll get healthcare now?

How long will he last as a Dem?...until he gets a challenger?

I'm very happy that Senator Specter took my advice a couple months back.

V V

That the democrats are "delighted" to piece of crap like Spector associated with them.

Repubs are stupid???

Specter voted with the Democrats for the most part. Why is it stupid for them to distance themselves from Mr. Specter so they can run someone else against him?

How's that "let's move further to the right!" campaign working out for you?

My amazement at their stubborn blindness is equaled only by my joy that they simply refuse to get it, that by becoming the party of Rush and Sarah and Sean and Glenn Beck, they're vanishing faster than a Cheshire cat, soon to only a smile, hovering in the air, until finally, that vanishes too.

I've been wondering for years why he didn't switch parties. He should have done it years ago, but better late than never. Welcome, Senator.

..can't say this thrills me. How will he be any different from Nelson?? He won't. Worse, if anything.

I'm waiting for the Dems to take the GOP on directly over filibustering. This is ridiculous. We shouldn't need a supermajority to pass legislation.

and held it up to the wind...Of course he's only doing this on behalf of his constituents...

He was DA and homegrown pol here in Philly that always seemed to have his constituents in mind. He kept the Philadelphia Eagles from leaving town and tried to keep the rule of law during the Bush years. He wasn't too successful on that one.

If he can only stop the Army Corps from dredging the Delaware River and sending megatons of muck to South Jersey, and still keep the unions happy somehow.

He only looked stupid to me while asking Anita Hill if anyone heard Clarence Thomas talk to her about 'pubic hair on a soda can' and 'sex with animals'. But they all looked stupid then.

Whatever. We'll take him. Tell me, how did y'all react back in the early 90's when Senators Shelby and Nighthorse-Campbell swiched from Dem to GOP? The same? No? Are you even old enough to remember such olde tymes?

Oh, and good luck with that "permanent Republican majority".

I guess this begs the question, Would Mr. Spector have done this if Dems had 55 seats? Quid pro Quo Arlen?

And you can have him. No loss.

When Senators Shelby and Nighthorse-Campbell swiched from Dem to GOP I figured they finally got smart. Didn't trust them worth a tinker's dam though.

And thanks for wishing us luck with that "permanent Republican majority"...it'll happen sooner than you think. Or don't you remember how fast politics can change?

I can see why people might be cynical about this switch, but I think Specter has been moving in a different direction for years. When he underwent cancer treatment, he seemed to shift a little which is consistent with a relooking at your life.

Think Specter moved to the left because of his cancer treatment? Trying to buy his way into Heaven just in case???

And thanks for wishing us luck with that "permanent Republican majority"...it'll happen sooner than you think. Or don't you remember how fast politics can change?

-- chiefpayne

******************

Obviously faster than a change in sweatpants for you, chiefpain...living here at War Room while you desperately spin this as a good thing for the GOP, are you? It is called a shower...take a break...

Um, sure, I remember how fast politics can change. For example, I remember from American History class that there used to be parties in this country called the "Federalists" and the "Whigs". For each, a certain point came in history where their core values became antithetical to the vast majority of the voting public. The Federalists ceased to exist, and were replaced by the Democrats within a couple of election cycles. The Whigs later also succumbed to similar circumstances, and were replaced by the Republicans.

As the GOP now seem bound and determined to stick to its guns, even though racial and (especially) generational demographic change is about to massively marginalize those who hold to those values, I see, possibly, that within the next couple decades they'll be replaced by a different, moderately conservative party that's willing to play nice with others in order to get things accomplished (policies that don't necessarily abide in the far right fringes of American thought).

"living here at War Room while you desperately spin this as a good thing for the GOP, are you?"

Nope, just giving a history lesson...or did you forget that the Republicans controlled Congress during the 1990s and then the Democrats took it back. It goes back and forth. Don't like the way the government is being runned? Just wait a few years and it'll change.

That's politics, Bud.

"For each, a certain point came in history where their core values became antithetical to the vast majority of the voting public."

Actually, they lost their core values by too much compromise...too much political posturing. As such, the people abandoned the parties because their core prinicles had vanished. That may well happen with the Republican Party as well...but it won't be replaced with a more moderate form of party because the people won't see a difference between it and the Democratic party.

If anything, you would see the emergence of more conservative party than the Republican party is today, if it is to be successful.

At any rate, the Democrats are in charge for now...enjoy it while it lasts because the fickle hand of politics can take that away quite quickly.