Politics Daily Contributors on Specter's Switch

2 years ago

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Patricia Murphy: The numbers tell the story. Pat Toomey ran against Specter in 2004 and lost by two points. Toomey held 21% advantage among Republicans over Specter last week. If Specter wanted to be a senator in 2011, he wasn't going to do it as a Republican.

Alex Wagner: If you're a Democrat in Washington right now, you did one of three things this afternoon:

1) F****d off work and took yourself out for a 2-year Happy Hour.

2) Shut the door to your office and did a silent Arsenio Hall-era dog whoop (arm churn included), then f****d off work and took yourself out for a 2-year Happy Hour.

3) Called that one Republican friend you have left, expressed your *sympathy* for their loss, shut the door to your office and did a silent Arsenio Hall-era dog whoop (arm churn included), then f*****d off work and took yourself out for a 2-year Happy Hour.

Matt Lewis: Mr. Specter has been a Democrat before. In fact, he only switched his affiliation to Republican in order to win office. In 1965, at age 35, Specter lost a Democratic primary for District Attorney in Philadelphia -- so he switched to the GOP ticket to win in the general election. It appears that Sen. Specter is finally going home after 44 long years in the wilderness -- and ending his political career exactly as he began it.

Lynn Sweet: Sen. Arlen Specter's switch to the Democratic aisle is a huge blow to the GOP and crucial to advancing President Obama's agenda. Democrats now have the potential for a filibuster-proof 60 votes, presuming Minnesota Democrat Al Franken is seated. Specter's move avoids a brewing fight over whether it would take 51 or 60 votes to pass health care legislation.

Jill Lawrence: Specter has never really fit the GOP mold, but that doesn't mean he's going to fit any better in his new party. He's been forced to challenge his leaders and operate as an independent. Now that persona is likely to bedevil the Democrats as much as it did the Republicans.

Melinda Henneberger: Chris Matthews must be out celebrating his foresight in deciding not to run against Specter as a Democrat in his home state of Pennsylvania. (Although as a Bush voter, maybe he'll run as a Republican now?)

Bonnie Goldstein: As a vet of the staff seats behind Chairman Biden during the Clarence Thomas Supreme Court confirmation, I could never entirely forgive Sen. Spector for his part in trying to discredit Anita Hill. Today with the Minnesota election nearly settled, however, Spector will bring a very important 60th vote to the Democratic party and for that I am happy to let bygones be bygone.

Ria Misra: Did ambivalence towards funding scientific research just cost the GOP the Senate? It certainly seems like it might have. A long-time proponent of stem cell research and a survivor of Hodgkin's Disease, Specter's switch comes on the same day that he introduces legislation to increase funding for biomedical research and reauthorize NIH funding to the tune of $40 billion.

Tommy Christopher: Maybe with Ernst Stavro Cheney out of the White House, he realized that that was his last name, and not his party affiliation. But seriously, folks. The Democrats have 60 votes in the Senate now (yeah, stick a fork in Coleman), so if they can get Meghan McCain, they'll really have something.

Filed Under: Senate, Democrats, Republicans

Tagged: arlen specter, ArlenSpecter

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