Post #12: What's the deal with Arlen Specter?

Seriously, what's the deal with Arlen Specter? In an interview about his decision to switch from the GOP to the Democratic Party (below), he stated that his reason for doing so was because "it is difficult to win the Pennsylvania primaries as a Republican." Seems like somewhat of a petty reason to switch parties? Shorty after that, the Senator said "I don't play the party game. The Republicans are just the lesser of 2 evils and I don't want to get along with Liberals or reach out to them." That sounds an awful lot like playing the party game! Now its not that I'm not used to seeing politicians contradict themselves, I can't remember the last time I saw someone contradict themselves in one breath.



However, I must speculate as to the effects of this switch. Specter's party change was due to his desire to keep his Senate seat, as he does not believe he would keep it if he did not join the Dems. Does his switch stop there? Certainly, voters are not so stupid that they would re-elect him on this merit alone, but they would rather watch and see how his voting record is affected. In order for Specter to make his switch worthwhile, he will need to vote more liberally to convince voters to keep him in office. If this is the case, the Democrats are closer to a Democratic supermajority than anyone could have expected. The question at hand is which of his positions will change in addition to his party label. While it is unlikely he will change his position on EFCA (after all, the only thing worse than flip-flopping once is flip-flopping out then flipping back), the odds are reasonably high he will switch positions on a number of other issues, specifically ones having to do with labor unions in Pennsylvania, because they are some of his main constituents.

Either way, Specter's future in the Senate seems shaky, and he will need to pander to his voters if he hopes to keep his seat. I wonder if any more Republicans will jump ship and follow suit with Specter?