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Dead Constitution See other Dead Constitution Articles Title: Bush's betrayal of the Republican party is consummated this day - Specter will carry Silver Bullet Vote Bush's betrayal of the Republican party is consummated this day In 2004, President Bush campaigned actively to help incumbent liberal Republican Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania defeat conservative challenger Rep. Patrick Toomey in the Republican primary, which Specter did by the narrowest of margins. And today? In a statement issued about noon as the Capitol was digesting the stunning turn of events, Mr. Specter said he had concluded that his party had moved too far to the right, a fact demonstrated by the migration of 200,000 Pennsylvania Republicans to the Democratic Party. "I now find my political philosophy more in line with Democrats than Republicans," Mr. Specter said, acknowledging that his decision was certain to disappoint colleagues and supporters. Jed W. writes: LA writes: But the larger factor, according to GOP "moderates" Olympia Snowe and Lindsay Graham, is that the Republicans have become unwelcoming to the "moderates," as explained at Politico: Two leading Republicans say Sen. Arlen Specter's decision to become a Democrat highlights the hostility moderates feel from an increasingly conservative GOP. "You haven't certainly heard warm encouraging words about how [the GOP] views moderates," said Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe, one of the few remaining moderate Republicans in the Senate. Snowe said the party's message has been, "Either you're with us or you're against us." Her frustration was shared by Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.), who slammed right-wing interest groups for pushing moderates out of the party. Specter switched parties Tuesday after a recent poll showed him badly losing a Pennsylvania Republican primary next year to Club for Growth founder Pat Toomey. Toomey's staunchly fiscally conservative political action committee backs only those Republicans who support a low-tax, limited-government agenda and comes down hard on those who break with party orthodoxy. "I don't want to be a member of the Club for Growth," said Graham. "I want to be a member of a vibrant national Republican party that can attract people from all corners of the country--and we can govern the country from a center-right perspective." "As Republicans, we got a problem," he said. The internal criticism came less than an hour before Specter walked into the Republicans' weekly Senate luncheon, where members discuss strategy, policy and other key items on the party agenda. Snowe criticized party leadership for failing to change its tone after Republicans lost six Senate seats in the 2006 election. "I happened to win with 74 percent of the vote in a blue-collar state, but no one asked me, 'How did you do it?'" she said. "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." "Ultimately, we're heading to having the smallest political tent in history, the way things are unfolding," Snowe said. [end of article] Joseph C. writes: Not only was their betrayal of Pat Toomey bad enough, but even worse was the precedent set--i.e. the GOP establishment encouraging Democrats to cross over and vote in the primary, effectively diluting the GOP base. When traditionalists protested, many GOP figures (including Rush Limbaugh) thought it was fine--the advantages of incumbency. (A small measure of justice was extracted when Republicans refused to support Santorum in 2006, ensuring his defeat). In 2008, we saw Limbaugh urging the same thing--on the Democrat side--as he goosed Republicans to register in the Democrat primary to prolong the Obama/Clinton battle. In 2012, this may well come back to bite the GOP. Imagine if Obama is vulnerable, but still has the Democratic nomination locked up. What is to stop Democrats from switching affiliations just for the primary? Indeed, why wouldn't they? By voting for a liberal Republican, they can dispirit the GOP base and ensure a liberal wins in November no matter what. It is perfectly legal. They can even claim that "they are forcing us to take a loyalty test" if Republicans try to exclude them. And the GOP will have no moral ground to claim, given that they started and encouraged this practice. As a solution, I would suggest having a cut-off, say limiting primary voters to those who register with the party one year or more in advance. Or else, go to the jungle primary system like in Louisiana, where everyone runs at once and the top two vote getters have a run-off. This is also legal, as the First Amendment right of freedom of association allows members of a political party not to admit those who they consider at odds with their views. Give Specter credit for one thing--he changed now. That traitor McCain will probably wait until after his 2010 re-election to switch. Barbara V. writes: James P. writes: You're speaking of the daily consummations of the process by which our leaders regularly screw us. I was talking about the overall consummation at the end of this process--the takeover of America by the left, which a filibuster-proof Senate may mean. Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 1.
#1. To: HAPPY2BME-4UM (#0)
(Edited)
Spector is a hoot...that the Rs have gone too far to the right for him. Ha! They nominated McCain, a charter member of the "moderate" club for crying out loud. Arlen the poor demented goof, has one foot in the grave and the other in political limbo. I think he gets taken out by a real D in the primary, then he can sulk off and rot from the head down.
#3. To: Jethro Tull (#1)
I was talking to a local county head of the Democratic Party here, she told me that she was told, to back Specter in the Primary and no one else..
This can't be laid off on Bush really. Not unless you honestly believe he was in charge. Several things that were supposed to be accomplished in the bush administration got pushed back throwing the time table off. NAFTA highway, Real ID, and amnesty. They need to get this done in the Obama administration as well as the stuff they had planned for him like carbon regulations. The timing of this is suspicious at best. They can't have any delays on legislation getting through. Keep an eye on the Waxman bill. The volunteer bill is now law. I heard the mandatory part was put into another bill though and I need to check on that bills progress.
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