Welcome to Team Obama Senator Specter.
I was shocked like everyone else today when Republican Senator Arlen Specter decided to become a Democrat. But I was even more shocked by colleagues of mine who were upset by the move.
Some saw it as a dark day for Republicans, (No, I think we just saw eight years of that).
Others questioned if the move was legal, (I'm not Judge Mathis, but I would say yes)
Sure, moving from one party to the next is usually not the wisest move (Hello Joe Lieberman), but Specter is not your usual Republican.
The cancer surviving Specter was once part of a solid group of Republicans called "Moderates." During the Ronald Reagan presidency, politicians like Specter and Jack Kemp voted on issues based on their views, regardless of party affiliation.
However, since the Reagan era, Republican moderates has been slowly losing their power to Republicans who were methodically moving to the right.
By the time George Bush and Karl Rove took over Washington D.C. eight years ago, moderates became even more extinct than a Cat Steven's 8-track.
My feeling is that Arlen Specter probably grew tired of fighting with his hard right colleagues and figured he could do more in the Democratic party.
By switching parties, Specter gives the Democrats a 60-seat, veto-proof majority in the Senate(presuming if Al Franken finally wins his seat in Minnesota).
Did Senator Arlen Specter make the right move?
Who knows?
Specter probably will not feel the full ramifications of his switch until his next Senatorial race in 2010 . Even as we speak, the Republicans are probably recruiting candidates who will use Specter's move as a campaign tool, stressing conservative values and that real Republicans would never turn Democrat.
Only then, in the hands of Pennsylvania voters who always supported for Arlen Specter, will we see if he made the right decision or not.
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