Personally, as a Democrat trying to elect more and better Democrats, I hate this move by Specter. He is only a Democrat today because his career was in doubt. He is not suddenly a liberal. He is not pro-choice. He is not pro-Obama’s budget. He is not pro-labor. He has just deprived Pennsylvania Democrats and National Democrats the opportunity of winning the seat in their own right (for surely Specter was going to lose to the unelectable Toomey) and having a real Democrat represent Pennsylvania.
And Specter is not suddenly the magic 60th vote that will immediately pass all Democratic legislation within the next few hours. Indeed, he is technically only the 59th until the sore loser Norm Coleman gives him his doomed appeal. But even with Franken, Specter will be no more reliable than conservadems Ben Nelson, Evan Bayh and Blanche Lincoln.
The only good thing to come from this switch is the schadenfreude. As Jason says, we will now be treated to a week’s worth of stories about the GOP in disarray. I love those stories. RNC Chairman may have to lose his job over this. Good.
But the importance of this switch is summed up by Jonathan Cohn:
Specter is one of the better-known senators in America. If you follow politics even casually, you’ve seen or heard him on the news before. So it’s going to register with you that a major Republican senator has decided his party has become too extreme for him. And if you’re a Republican, you might wonder if it’s become too extreme for you, as well.
Of course, polls show voters leaving the Republican Party already. And not just in Pennsylvania, as Specter noted. The real significance here may be less about political change to come and more about political change that has already happened.
The message now being broadcast loud and clear is this: The Republican Party is too extreme for the guy who came up with that magic bullet theory. Now that is extreme. This is just further confirmation that the GOP is the party of Cheney, Limbaugh, Gingrich and Palin, where no moderates need apply. Whereas the Democratic Party openly welcomed the moderate Specter, and acknowledged him as such, the GOP is openly happy that they are rid of him. That is a stunning message being broadcast at this very moment to even the casual follower of politics, and it will resonate.
And we all know, it is those who appear moderate that win elections.