Run for your life.

Fade said:
Arlen Specter Rep. Senator from Pennsylvania switched over to the Democratic party today facing almost sure defeat in the Republican primary. :banana:
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Specter changes affiliation from "Super Secret Stealth, wink wink, Democrat" to Democrat.
 
Mr Specter, a moderate, said that since he joined the Republicans in 1980 the party had "moved far to the right".
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Robert said:
Mr Specter, a moderate, said that since he joined the Republicans in 1980 the party had "moved far to the right".
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No Robert, in this case Specter was just doing the first job of all politicians... which is to get re-elected. He's done this before. Let's not forget that Specter was a Democrat until 1965, when he ran successfully on the Republican ticket for district attorney in Philadelphia.

As others have already pointed out, he was facing an uphill battle in the 2010 Republican primary election. Also keep in mind that as one of three Republican votes for the Obama debt campaign (err.. stimulous) he had just given any opponent a gift for debate.

While I won't disagree that the Republicans have shifted to the right of where they were when Reagan was president, Arlen (IMO) has always been a Republican in name only.

How this benifits the Dems remains to be seen. On paper they approach the "magic" 60 vote majority but as some other political reporters have noted, the Dems are having problems within their own ranks now. Time will tell.

Regards,
Ltstanfo
 
Robert said:
Mr Specter, a moderate, said that since he joined the Republicans in 1980 the party had "moved far to the right".
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Eh? Wasn't it Reagan who said the police should shoot at left wing protesters with real bullets? Wasn't it Nixon who wanted Vietnam to be nuked?
How far right can far right be?
 
Speelgoedmannetje said:
Eh? Wasn't it Reagan who said the police should shoot at left wing protesters with real bullets? Wasn't it Nixon who wanted Vietnam to be nuked?
How far right can far right be?
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Good question Speel and the answer (I think) is it depends on your perspective.

Regards,
Ltstanfo
 
ltstanfo said:
Speelgoedmannetje said:
Eh? Wasn't it Reagan who said the police should shoot at left wing protesters with real bullets? Wasn't it Nixon who wanted Vietnam to be nuked?
How far right can far right be?
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Good question Speel and the answer (I think) is it depends on your perspective.

Regards,
Ltstanfo
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Well, IMHO the 'far' side is when ppl literally want to get rid (one way or another) of those who do not fit in their world view. Those who are walking over dead bodies, as we say here.

From my perspective is it those who I've mentioned (the far right), as well as the Rote Armee Fraktion (the far left).
 
Arlen Specter is someone I can respect and I don't give a damn what party he's affiliated with
 
the bottom line is that Arlen Specter didn't leave the republican party, it's the republicans who left america
 
cecilia said:
the bottom line is that Arlen Specter didn't leave the republican party, it's the republicans who left america
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Nice try C but no:

Specter admits move is political. You can like the man all you want but as I expected, (as the saying goes) he was merely doing the first job of every politician....

Regards,
Ltstanfo
 
ltstanfo said:
Robert said:
Mr Specter, a moderate, said that since he joined the Republicans in 1980 the party had "moved far to the right".
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No Robert,
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This isn't my stated opinion, it's Mr. Specter's. Sorry if that wasn't clear.

I don't know him well enough to have a view either way but he was being slated here and I thought it only fair to reprint a snippet of his side of the story.
 
ltstanfo said:
cecilia said:
the bottom line is that Arlen Specter didn't leave the republican party, it's the republicans who left america
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Nice try C but no:

Specter admits move is political. You can like the man all you want but as I expected, (as the saying goes) he was merely doing the first job of every politician....
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Interesting that you seem take him at face value when he says something you like but claim he's lying when he doesn't..... ;-)

Seriously though, I more or less agree with you. He probably does just want to hold onto his seat. Paraphrasing Billy Connolly, the very fact that anyone wants to be a politician should immediately disqualify them from ever becoming one.

Having said that, this applies to every single person involved in politics, no matter the party. If we're going to start slating things for being exactly what they are expected to be, the debate will get stale rather quickly.
 
ltstanfo said:
cecilia said:
the bottom line is that Arlen Specter didn't leave the republican party, it's the republicans who left america
Click to expand...

Nice try C but no:

Specter admits move is political. You can like the man all you want but as I expected, (as the saying goes) he was merely doing the first job of every politician....

Regards,
Ltstanfo
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of course Specter is being pragmatic. duh!
what's wrong with that?

my point is that no matter what party he affliates with he is STILL the same man. and that's all I care about.
 
Cecilia said:
"my point is that no matter what party he affliates with he is STILL the same man. and that's all I care about."
--------------------------------------

Cecilia grow a brain and listen to the words coming out of your hero's own mouth last week.

I know it's hard, but you do need to pay attention.© It's one of the hazards of only watching the news from the BBC.
 
Robert said:
Interesting that you seem take him at face value when he says something you like but claim he's lying when he doesn't..... ;-)

Seriously though, I more or less agree with you. He probably does just want to hold onto his seat. Paraphrasing Billy Connolly, the very fact that anyone wants to be a politician should immediately disqualify them from ever becoming one.

Having said that, this applies to every single person involved in politics, no matter the party. If we're going to start slating things for being exactly what they are expected to be, the debate will get stale rather quickly.
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Fair enough. Let me furthur qualify my comment by adding that I have never been a big fan of Specter and his party switch had been rumored for some time (for the reasons previously posted). There really aren't any in the senate that I respect. I was satisfied with my state senator (Shelby) until he bacame the king of pork under the Obama deficit bill. I will not be supporting him in 2010.

Regards,
Ltstanfo
 
Arlen Spector left of personal reasons. He wants to be re-elected next election.

He realizes that the Republican party is failing his constitutients. The Republicans have walked away from their moderates to the right-wing extremists. Certainly he knew that the Republicans will run a 'christian' rights candidate against him and he will not be selected. He also knows his state is a moderate state and will not select such a Republican.

This is a real and serious problem for the Republicans. Over the last 2-4 years they have driven themselves to be a minority party of the south. I predict Republicans will have problems for at least the next 3 elections, most everywhere except for the south. If this was the Rove plan for control it clearly gets an F.
 
faethor hoped
"He realizes that the Republican party is failing his constitutients. The Republicans have walked away from their moderates to the right-wing extremists. Certainly he knew that the Republicans will run a 'christian' rights candidate against him and he will not be selected. He also knows his state is a moderate state and will not select such a Republican."
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Wrong on all accounts. Last election he barely won his primary by the skin of his teeth. And he knew that after being one of only three Republicans to vote to give away the farm, and that he would be up against the same guy this time around, that his ass was toast.
 
I still don't know too much about him but from the brief glance I've had at his voting record, I'd say he's very right wing.

-EDIT-
I should add that, from where I'm sitting, the Democrats are already pretty right wing. Adding this turnip to the ranks just makes them even more so.
 
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