Thread: Senator Arlen Specter may run as Democrat

Yep, confirming the switch! No surprise to me, either, the way he's voted Democrat for a few years now, especially for the pro-illegal side!

http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/04/28 ... parties%2F

Arlen Specter Statement on Switching Parties

Sen. Arlen Specter has just announced in his Washington Senate office that he will switch from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party. His move gives Democrats 59 votes in the Senate....

Specter put out the following statement today:

I have been a Republican since 1966. I have been working extremely hard for the Party, for its candidates and for the ideals of a Republican Party whose tent is big enough to welcome diverse points of view. While I have been comfortable being a Republican, my Party has not defined who I am. I have taken each issue one at a time and have exercised independent judgment to do what I thought was best for Pennsylvania and the nation.


Since my election in 1980, as part of the Reagan Big Tent, the Republican Party has moved far to the right. Last year, more than 200,000 Republicans in Pennsylvania changed their registration to become Democrats. I now find my political philosophy more in line with Democrats than Republicans


When I supported the stimulus package, I knew that it would not be popular with the Republican Party. But, I saw the stimulus as necessary to lessen the risk of a far more serious recession than we are now experiencing.


Since then, I have traveled the State, talked to Republican leaders and office-holders and my supporters and I have carefully examined public opinion. It has become clear to me that the stimulus vote caused a schism which makes our differences irreconcilable. On this state of the record, I am unwilling to have my twenty-nine year Senate record judged by the Pennsylvania Republican primary electorate. I have not represented the Republican Party. I have represented the people of Pennsylvania.


I have decided to run for re-election in 2010 in the Democratic primary.


I am ready, willing and anxious to take on all comers and have my candidacy for re-election determined in a general election.


I deeply regret that I will be disappointing many friends and supporters. I can understand their disappointment. I am also disappointed that so many in the Party I have worked for for more than four decades do not want me to be their candidate. It is very painful on both sides. I thank specially Senators McConnell and Cornyn for their forbearance.


I am not making this decision because there are no important and interesting opportunities outside the Senate. I take on this complicated run for re-election because I am deeply concerned about the future of our country and I believe I have a significant contribution to make on many of the key issues of the day, especially medical research. NIH funding has saved or lengthened thousands of lives, including mine, and much more needs to be done. And my seniority is very important to continue to bring important projects vital to Pennsylvania's economy.


I am taking this action now because there are fewer than thirteen months to the 2010 Pennsylvania Primary and there is much to be done in preparation for that election. Upon request, I will return campaign contributions contributed during this cycle.


While each member of the Senate caucuses with his Party, what each of us hopes to accomplish is distinct from his party affiliation. The American people do not care which Party solves the problems confronting our nation. And no Senator, no matter how loyal he is to his Party, should or would put party loyalty above his duty to the state and nation.


My change in party affiliation does not mean that I will be a party-line voter any more for the Democrats that I have been for the Republicans. Unlike Senator Jeffords' switch which changed party control, I will not be an automatic 60th vote for cloture. For example, my position on Employees Free Choice (Card Check) will not change.
Whatever my party affiliation, I will continue to be guided by President Kennedy's statement that sometimes Party asks too much. When it does, I will continue my independent voting and follow my conscience on what I think is best for Pennsylvania and America.

"Sen. Specter Intends to Become Democrat

Tuesday, April 28, 2009 12:39 PM

Veteran Republican Sen. Arlen Specter disclosed plans Tuesday to switch parties, a move intended to boost his chances of winning re-election next year that will also push Democrats closer to a 60-vote filibuster-resistant majority.


"I now find my political philosophy more in line with Democrats than Republicans," Specter said in a statement posted on a Web site devoted to Pennsylvania politics and confirmed by his office. Several Senate officials said a formal announcement could come later in the day or Wednesday.


Specter, 79 and in his fifth term, is one of a handful of Republican moderates remaining in Congress in a party now dominated by conservatives. Several officials said the White House as well as leaders in both parties had been involved in discussions leading to his move.


With Specter, Democrats would have 59 Senate seats. Al Franken is ahead in a marathon recount in Minnesota, and if he ultimately wins his race against Republican Norm Coleman, he would become the party's 60th vote. That is the number needed to overcome a filibuster.


Specter faced an extraordinarily difficult re-election challenge in his home state in 2010, having first to confront a challenge from his right in the Republican primary before pivoting to a general election campaign against a Democrat.


"I am unwilling to have my twenty-nine year Senate record judged by the Pennsylvania Republican primary electorate," he said in the statement.


"I don't have to say anything to them. They've said it to me," Specter said, when asked in a Capitol corridor about abandoning the GOP.


A senior White House official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because no announcement has yet been made, said at 10:25 a.m. EDT Tuesday President Barack Obama was handed a note while in the Oval Office during his daily economic briefing. The note said: "Specter is announcing he is changing parties." At 10:32, Obama reached Specter by phone and told him "you have my full support" and that the Democratic Party is "thrilled to have you."


Specter had publicly acknowledged that to win in 2010, he would need thousands of Pennsylvania voters who switched from Republican to Democrat last year to vote for Obama to flip back to the GOP to cast ballots for him.


As one of the most senior Republicans in the Senate, Specter held powerful positions on the Judiciary and Approporiations panels. It was not clear how Democrats would calculate his seniority in assigning committee perches.


Specter has long been an independent Republican, and he proved it most recently when he became one of only three members of the GOP in Congress to vote for Obama's economic stimulus legislation.


As recently as late winter, he was asked by a reporter why he had not taken Democrats up on past offers to switch parties.


"Because I am a Republican," he said at the time.

© 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved."

http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/spec ... 08225.html

Specter, along with Al Franken, will give the Democrats 60 votes in the U.S. Senate. This is not good news because the Democrats will now be filibuster proof.

Specter is only switching parties because he knows it's his only chance at getting reelected.

As recently as late winter, he was asked by a reporter why he had not taken Democrats up on past offers to switch parties.


"Because I am a Republican," he said at the time.

They must have made him an offer he could not refuse.

At least now he can quit being dishonest about it.

Specter is out of the closet.

Dixie

RED ALERT HERE!!! PLEASE HELP!!!

http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-154518.html

What specter was a Republican? I must have missed it.

Fingers crossed that the creep loses next time he runs. He has been around way way way too long and has always been a self-serving waste of space (to put it very politely and sweetly).

Duh

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090428/ap_ ... ter_switch

By DAVID ESPO, AP Special Correspondent David Espo, Ap Special Correspondent – 1 hr 18 mins ago
WASHINGTON – Veteran Republican Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania switched parties Tuesday with a suddenness that seemed to stun the Senate, a moderate's defection that pushed Democrats to within a vote of the 60 needed to overcome filibusters and enact President Barack Obama's top legislative priorities.

Specter, 79 and seeking a sixth term in 2010, conceded bluntly that his chances of winning a Pennsylvania Republican primary next year were bleak in a party grown increasingly conservative. But he cast his decision as one of principle, rather than fueled by political ambition as spurned GOP leaders alleged.

"I have found myself increasingly at odds with the Republican philosophy and more in line with the philosophy of the Democratic Party," he said at a news conference. He added, "I am not prepared to have my 29 year record in the United States Senate decided by the Pennsylvania Republican primary electorate."

Not long after Specter met privately with Republican senators to explain his decision, the party's leader, Sen. Mitch McConnell, said the switch posed a "threat to the country." The issue, he said, "really relates to ... whether or not in the United States of America our people want the majority party to have whatever it wants, without restraint, without a check or balance."

As a result of last fall's elections, Democrats control the White House and have a large majority in the House. Specter's switch leaves them with 59 Senate seats. Democrat Al Franken is ahead in a marathon recount in Minnesota. If he ultimately defeats Republican Norm Coleman, he would become the party's 60th vote — the number needed to overcome a filibuster that might otherwise block legislation.

Specter, who has a lifelong record of independence, told reporters, "I will not be an automatic 60th vote." As evidence, he pointed out he opposes "card check" legislation to make it easier for workers to form unions, a bill that is organized labor's top priority this year.

His move comes as Democrats are looking ahead to battles on health care, energy and education.

Specter was one of only three Republicans in Congress who voted for Obama's economic stimulus bill earlier this year, a measure the senator said was needed to head off the threat of another Great Depression.

Specter called the White House on Tuesday to notify Obama of his decision to switch. The president called back moments later, according to spokesman Robert Gibbs, to say the Democratic Party was "thrilled to have you."

Several officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said discussions of a possible switch had reached into the White House in recent days, although Gibbs said he had no details.

Gibbs said Obama would raise money for Specter as well as campaign personally for him if asked.

Specter told reporters at his news conference that Gov. Ed Rendell, a Democrat, had suggested a meeting in Washington for this week at which the party's leadership could formally "endorse my candidacy."

In Pennsylvania, State Rep. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, swiftly announced he was no longer interested in running for the Senate next year. The only announced Democratic candidate has been Joe Torsella, chairman of the State Board of Education.

Among Republicans, former Rep. Pat Toomey is expected to run. He had been poised to challenge Specter, who defeated him narrowly in a 2004 primary.

"I welcome Senator Specter and his moderate voice to our diverse caucus," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said in a statement that was a jab at the Republicans.

Other Democrats spread the word on Twitter in a way that reflected surprise. "Specter to switch parties? Wow," said a message sent by Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri.

At his news conference, Specter grew animated as he blamed conservatives for helping deliver control of the Senate to Democrats in 2006, making it impossible to confirm numerous judicial appointees of former president George W. Bush.

"They don't make any bones about their willingness to lose the general election if they can purify the party. I don't understand it, but that's what they said," he added.

Ironically, Specter had spoken recently about the importance of a strong Republican presence in the Senate.

"If we lose my seat they have 60 Democrats, they will pass card check, you will have the Obama tax increases, they will carry out his big spending plans. So the 41st Republican, whose name is Arlen Specter, is vital to stopping tax increases, passage of card check and the Obama big spending plans."

Pennsylvania has voted increasingly Democratic in recent elections, and Obama's candidacy in 2008 prompted thousands of voters to switch their registration to his party. Specter said their migration had left the GOP primary electorate "very far to the right."

After nearly six full terms in the Senate, Specter is one of a handful of moderate Republicans left, a politician of remarkable resilience who has maneuvered successfully to protect his seat at home and his seniority rights in Congress.

In line to become chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2004, he was forced to reassure conservatives he would not attempt to thwart them on Bush's conservative judicial nominees. As a senior lawmaker on the Senate Appropriations Committee, he is responsible for a steady stream of federal projects in his state.

In recent years, he has battled Hodgkin's disease, a cancer of the lymphatic system, but maintains a busy schedule that includes daily games of squash.

Specter was the sixth senator to switch parties in the past 15 years, and the first to leave the Republicans since former Sen. James Jeffords of Vermont became an independent in 2001. Jeffords' defection gave Democrats control of the Senate. Reid, then the second-ranking Democrat, played a role in that change, as well, offering to give up a committee chairmanship so Jeffords could retain it.

As one of the most senior Republicans in the Senate, Specter held powerful positions on the Judiciary and Appropriations committees. It was not clear how Democrats would calculate his seniority in assigning committee perches.

As recently as late winter, he was asked by a reporter why he had not taken Democrats up on past offers to switch parties.

"Because I am a Republican," he said at the time.

Tuesday's switch was not Specter's first.

He was a Democrat until 1965, when he ran successfully on the Republican ticket for district attorney in Philadelphia.

___

Associated Press Writers Julie Hirschfeld Davis, Laurie Kellman, Liz Sidoti, Andrew Taylor and Erica Werner contributed to this story from Washington. Peter Jackson contributed from Harrisburg, Pa.

There seem to be a few Dems really mad at this. Watching Olbermann talk to Chris Matthews, Matthews said that this is as shallow a conversion as any in history. Specter's only point was seeing what the Pennsylvania political winds were blowing, and for him, his loyalty is to keeping the job. This guy has already been slammed by Dem pundits, and I am sure Repubs won't vote for him, so vaya con Dios, Specter.

DJ

The Republican Party is in big trouble--largely because of the mess Bush put us in. Here's what I don't get. Why can't the Republican Party focus on what the majority of Americans want (like a closed border, limited government, etc) and leave issues like abortion and same sex marriage OUT of their planks? They do not have to take a position on absolutely everything. That would bring people together. If they don't do something like that and continue to spend their time arguing on these side issues, we will have a Democrat run country from NOW ON. We are in a race to become a Banana Republic as we are going.

You know why DJ, these people don't run anything, it seems everything that Obama or the congress does was printed up months ago, the congress and administration would have to work 24 hours a day to spit all this stuff out as fast as it is turning, thats why Obama needs a teleprompter, he has no idea what is going to be on there when he speaks, he just reads what the global elite have gave him. Thats why he can NEVER tell us anything without a teleprompter, just like the wizard of OZ, and besides, these guys aen't this smart. When you come up with policy, it has to be thought of months and years in advance, not on the fly like they are making it appear. I wonder how many months the elites worked on that $800 billion bank bailout bill and then the 1,200 page stimulas bill? No way they could do this in a few days, they had to be working on this for at least a couple of months. The administration is taking up where BUSH left off, just on an expedited time table.

For almost 10 years this government and 98% of the politicians of any ilk or locality have done nothing to help Americans, every single thing they have done has restricted Americans more and taken more from us in freedoms and wealth. As they let illegals in, our freedom is essentially stolen and handed to them because part of freedom is obeying the laws of the land, without the basic laws, there is no freedom, when the laws are ignored, the lawbreakers tread on our freedom.

Since 2000, we have been drained of a very good net worth to almost nothing and they won't stop until they take it all, then it'll be an equal world. The rest of the world won't be lifted up to our standard of even todays low standards, they will continue to take us down until America resembles hell. Our only hope is to spread the alternative media and have massive tea parties every week. It sure was good seeing all those rednecks feeling like us out there, we can do this thing, after the people that still have something get that taken, then they will join in too.