Specter: Reagan’s GOP is gone [attacks GOP, Club for Growth, conservatives]

The Christian Science Monitor ^ | 2009-05-03

[rabscuttle385]

On Sunday talk shows, he says the 'big tent' party of Reagan and the late Jack Kemp has been replaced by rigid conservatism.

BY MARK TRUMBULL

Sen. Arlen Specter (D) of Pennsylvania and leaders of the party he bolted last week surprisingly struck a chord of near agreement in discussing the future of the Republican Party Sunday.

The question of whether the party can stage a revival without welcoming Northeastern moderates came to the fore on television talk shows Sunday morning.

On NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Senator Specter blamed the inner workings of the conservative movement for his own departure, and suggested that “there has to be room for people who are moderates.”

Appearing later on the same show, some Republican figures essentially agreed with that assessment, even while they did not endorse all of Specter’s remarks.

[rabscuttle385]

On NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Senator Specter blamed the inner workings of the conservative movement for his own departure...

It's not the voter's fault that Specter voluntarily and willfully chose to vote for the Obama-Pelosi-Reid Porkulus Maximus.

[mainepatsfan]

Those darn conservative primary voters in Pennsylvania. How dare they attempt to take away what is rightfully Specter’s for life!! /s

[A_Former_Democrat]

Anyone who would vote for that POS “stimulus” package was so far removed from Ronald Reagan and reality . . .

You and your self-centered, career-obsessed self, Mr, Specter, is what left the GOP. You obviously care nothing for your country, its taxpayers, nor its legacy.

[jimtorr]

Yes, Reagan’s GOP is nearly gone, and Specter is one of it’s killers.

[TheNewPundit]

Why was he the last person in the country to realize he is a Democrat?

[Voter#537]

Arlin is not worth the time of day. We are better off without him. My only regret is that several others go with him.
Lean and mean That is what we need.

[auntyfemenist]

What I would like to know is where the he$$ are the moderate democrats and how come their party isn't admonishing each other to make room for their moderates??

[Cedric]

Specter was first elected, then reelected, during the Reagan years.

The Gipper didn't try to run him out of the party. He was smart enough to know you need numbers to govern.

[Do Not Make Fun Of His Ears]

“Scottish Law” Arlen Sphincter.

Actually, I think Sphincter died ten years ago, but his hideous cadaver is still animated by sheer lust for power.

[Man50D]

On NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Senator Specter blamed the inner workings of the conservative movement for his own departure, and suggested that “there has to be room for people who are moderates.”

Moderate is a euphemistic term for socialists. Thank you for the complement and nowhere should there be room for socialists.

[Cedric]

Welcome.

[andy58-in-nh]

Reagan's GOP was a conservative GOP, and it was weasel-lipped, tax-guzzling, invertebrate castrati like Specter who killed it. Good riddance, and thanks for nothing.

[SeaWolf]

Good point, in Spectors case, but I find that moderate is more often a euphemism for drone in the general application.

[jocko12]

Who care what Specter thinks.

[OrangeHoof]

Why should anyone care what a turncoat has to say? If Specter had stayed in the party, his voice might have some marginal credibility. But since he fled the party, his voice should count for nothing. He can take all the RINOs across the aisle that he wants. We won’t miss any of them.

[hoosier hick]

One more time: when you vote conservative 44% of the time for almost 30 years, more than likely you BELONG in the other party...

hh

[jr.ewing.78]

Well, yeah, Arlen. You're one of the responsible parties.

Hopefully with your exit now it's on its way back.

[Enoughofthissocialism]

No, Sphincter, YOU’RE gone! Officially now instead of just obviously, and thank God for that!

We don’t need you or your kind.

We never wanted you either.

Good riddance!

[BigBobber]

To paraphrase Michael Corleone in Godfather II,

“Arlen, you are dead to us.”

When he betrayed the party he gave up any moral authority to comment on it.

[lt.america]

I know yours is a rhetorical one, but I will state the obvious and say that they are having too much fun watching the Republican party disintegrate. Big problem with this is that the country cannot afford Obama and his big spending minions running the show for the next 7 years.

[4Speed]

Hey Specter....you mind is going Left...you’re so far left you can’t see Regan’s Accomplishments.

Historically speaking, Specter, you are Ignorant of most things Republican . . . really Ignorant....so shut up and get ready to Retire.

[Cedric]

Specter has a 54.5% conservative ranking this year (National Journal).

[MattMa]

Sen. Specter thanks for the feedback, good bye.

[SECURE AMERICA]

Specter: Reagan’s GOP is gone

Well yes Arlen it is gone.Its gone becuase of you, Snowe,Collins and others that diluted the Republican Party until it was just Democrat Lite...

[FrogMom]

If Specter is against it, I like it!

[Prokopton]

Why should anyone care what a turncoat has to say?

Specter is no turncoat, he has always been a liberal POS. The Republican voters who kept him in office when he kept stabbing them in the back are the ones to blame. Specter always showed his true colors even if the citizens were too color blind to see.

[lexington minuteman 1775]

You have had 30 years Arlen. Go retire somewhere and shut up!

[mj1234]

-One thing the Demon-rats didn’t realize -

it is ALL About Sphincter- he MAKES A DEAL to
get a senior position on the DEMON side of congress!
pushing long term Rats out of the way!

The U.S.A. is totally screwed with the majority of
losers like this that are now in congress.

[MuttTheHoople]

NO Arlen, the Rockefeller-Bob Michel-Gerald Ford wing of the GOP is turning the party into a permanent minority.

[mkjessup]

Specter: Reagan's GOP is gone.

Got news for ya Arlen, Reagan's GOP is just on vacation and it will be back.

You however, are headin' for the boneyard, ya disloyal old coot.

[philman_36]

Appearing later on the same show, some Republican figures essentially agreed with that assessment, even while they did not endorse all of Specter’s remarks.
Let's see who these unnamed Republican figures are...

'Meet the Press' transcript for May 3, 2009
Then, the future of the Republican party with: MSNBC's Fmr. Rep. Joe Scarborough (R-FL) & Fmr. RNC Chair Ed Gillespie.
And they've got...1 page out of 4.
I'm not impressed.

[VRWC For Truth]

Reagan cut taxes. All Porculus does is RAISE them. There are NO Conservatives on the alphabet networks. It’s a stacked deck. Liberals are liars and petty thieves.

[headstamp 2]

“On NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Senator Specter blamed the inner workings of the conservative movement for his own departure, and suggested that “there has to be room for people who are moderates.”

This is such a ridiculous statement in light of how the party governed since Bush took office in 2001. The moderates in the party have basically run the show since then, screwing over Conservatives at virtually every turn. They could be depended upon to vote exactly the wrong way or undermine the fight on virtually every important issue to Conservatives or back down when the going got tough on a vital issue in the face of liberal opposition. It’s nothing but a snow job for political cover.

Spectre is nothing but a political pimp in search of sustaining his Senate seat which he would lose in a primary. He does not give a damn who he steps on or destroys. Right now he is merely in the process of trying to endear himself to Democrat voters in PA by dumping on the Republican party in general.

The Republican party has outlived its usefulness to him so he’s gone. He’s the worst kind of politician and the damned Democrats can him. He’ll fit right in. He’ll probably croak before he has a chance to screw them over too, again.

[Do Not Make Fun Of His Ears]

Thanks. :-)

[jonboy]

Personally I am ready for Snowe and Collins to follow suit. Anyone else as well?

[Jeff Gordon]

The GOP has a new leader waiting in the wings. He is a Four Star General with a PhD. He is the world’s leading expert on asymmetric warfare. He has been nose to nose with Obama and taken measure of the man. He knows the enemy.

[buccaneer81]

He was smart enough to know you need numbers to govern.

Numbers mean nothing if the fool consistently votes opposite the rest of the party.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Those darn conservative primary voters in Pennsylvania. How dare they attempt to take away what is rightfully Specter’s for life!! /s

As a PA conservative primary voter who has spent the past five years working to send this guy to the retirement home, I wear his scorn as a badge of honor.

Typical Rat - do whatever it takes to survive.

[Randy Larsen]

MR. SCARBOROUGH: But here's the, here's the problem, though. When Republicans took over Washington--and we're not just talking about George W. Bush, we're talking about Republican Congress. When Republicans took over Congress in 2001 and the White House, we owned Washington, D.C., like Democrats do now. We had $155 billion surplus. When Republicans got out of power we had a $1.5 trillion debt--deficit. We doubled the national debt from about $5.7 trillion to about $11 trillion. Americans believe that we were spending too much money on foreign wars as well. We, we were the world's 911. We got away from the basics that Eddie and I worked on in the 1990s: balancing the budget, reforming welfare and adopting Colin Powell. You want to know a true conservative on foreign policy? It's Colin Powell, who says we go to war sparingly, and when we go to war we fight to win so we can bring our troops home. We've gotten away from that. And it's not just been one Republican, it's been the entire party. We've got to refocus. That's why when I hear Democrats like Arlen Specter and read editorialists like E.J. Dionne saying how liberal--or, or how conservative the Republican Party's become, they've got it backwards. We have not been conservative as a party, we've been radical.

That's Why!

[Cedric]

The majority party gets the committee chairmen.

Numbers do matter.

[buccaneer81]

The majority party gets the committee chairmen.

I'm aware of that. A Specter or equivalent is no guarantee of the outcome of a committee vote.

[LachlanMinnesota]

Reagan was a conservative Republican that welcomed moderates, and convinced them that it was in their interest to do so.

Today’s Republican party is a liberal party asking to be welcomed by Democrats, and have been convinced that is in their interest to do so.

[LachlanMinnesota]

So it is passed out of the committee and the committee chairman votes with the opposition. So what good is the committee?

In a normal world, I would agree with you, but we are not libving in a normal world right now.

[LachlanMinnesota]

And smart enough to know that you can give your vote to the opposition to give them the numbers they need.

[LachlanMinnesota]

What I don’t understand is how the Democrats really could care at all about him, since they had the majority anyway, and Spector was a sure vote either way.

So why give Spector any deal at all?

They didn’t have to buy the cow to get the milk for free.

[LucyJo]

The Republicans did not distance themselves from conservatism.

They said after the Republicans mentioned in this article completely distanced themselves from conservatism.

[philman_36]

That's Why!
He needed to tell us something we didn't know!
We have not been conservative as a party, we've been radical.
What is missing, and plainly lacking, is his and the party's solution! (and it shouldn't be coddling the current crop of RINOs or bringing in new ones)
When they have a solution they'll warrant my attention.

[philman_36]

So what good is the committee?
It's good for appearances.

[philman_36]

So why give Spector any deal at all?
If you read the transcript I posted above you'll read that there was no deal.
Page 3...
MR. GREGORY: I want to move on, though, to the question of what it took for the Democrats to get you. What were you offered? What inducements have you been given to switch parties?
SEN. SPECTER: None.
MR. GREGORY: None.
SEN. SPECTER: None.