Posted on 04/29/2009 5:23:07 AM PDT by kellynla
My one rule of politics is that the future is never a straight line projection of the present. Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter's unexpected decision to switch parties and run for re-election in 2010 as a Democrat proves the rule. Mr. Specter often votes for liberal Democratic initiatives and infuriates conservative Republicans. Still, his surprise defection was a crushing setback for the GOP, instantly reducing what limited power Republicans have in the Senate. The GOP's ability to stop liberal legislation is now weakened if not eliminated in some instances.
CorbisMr. Specter's jump across the aisle significantly adds to the heavy Republican burden in Senate races next year. True, the political climate then may be more favorable for Republican gains; the economy probably won't be booming and the president's popularity won't be sky-high. But there's a problem: the map.
The states with Senate races in 2010 do not favor Republicans. They must defend 19 seats, six in states won handily by Barack Obama. In three -- New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Ohio -- Democrats also have a built-in, blue-state edge. Indeed it was the strong Democratic advantage in Pennsylvania that prompted Mr. Specter's switch. In two other states -- Florida and North Carolina -- Republican chances are no better than fair. Only in Iowa, with incumbent Chuck Grassley a shoo-in for re-election, are Republicans assured of holding on in Obamaland.
Losing one or two or three Senate seats on the heels of Mr. Specter's departure would be devastating for Republicans. Already his defection has robbed them of their most reliable weapon in blocking President Obama's liberal proposals. If the 60 Democrats (counting Mr. Specter and Al Franken) stick together, they can keep Republicans from getting the 41 votes for a successful filibuster.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
With a super majority in the Senate, and a majority in the House, if anything goes wrong, and it most certainly will, the DemonRATs will get the blame, no matter how much the press tries to cover for them.
The swooning of the Press over the DemonRATs and their messianic leader is going to wear thin on Joe Public pretty quick, if things start going bad.
This is why today's “thinkers” need to be dethroned.
If Specter was voting with the Dems, then he wasn't helping us.
As I've said all along, with the “Gang of 14” mentality that so many Republicans have, the Dems NEVER needed 60 seats to prevent filibuster. They've had that for quite some time.
Specter's “defection” is nothing more than a formality at this point. The only reason he defected was to save the unmitigated embarrassment of losing in a primary after so many years in office. Toomey was set to destroy him in the primaries, and Specter is too much of an egotist to acknowledge that he is not representing the people he claims to have supported.
Hopefully, Toomey will end his career.
This now permanent red blue mapping is bogus. “Rats should alwyas be mapped and referred to as RED.
Brite Hume was with Barnes on this that losing a few more seats is a disaster, save seats at any cost . Both were for anmesty and TARP1. Bill Crystal pointed out that this defection makes it even more difficult for democrats to blame republicans for failures, tax increases are in the future. What is democrats cant pass them ?(beyond the automatic ones.)
Was there no Democrat planning a run in PA ?
The GOP Senate was never an obstacle to any liberal agenda, as the failure to stop the bailouts revealed.
It isn’t being mentioned that Specter appears ready to defect to the next world. He visibly is dying.
Makes his defection which he admits was to save his political hyde, especially pathetic and despicable. A dying man who does not have his priorities in order and sold his soul at the end of his life.
The economy? - you are assuming that the majority of his voters are net taxpayers.
They aren't - and the more the economy tanks, the more that they get for free.
Standard Democrat game plan.
Foreign events and policy? A wash.
We are looking at a very serious problem that may very well NOT self correct. - We have reached a tipping point and a few more straws will do the trick.
Look for Health care and immigration policy “reform” to be the final nails in the coffin of traditional America.
The rest is assured.
“if” things “start” going bad?
“things” have already “gone bad”...and “things” are only going to get WORSE!
what the “geniuses” in D.C. didn't learn while they were in college is that you can't spend your way into prosperity and you can't borrow your way out of debt...but then I doubt any of this clowns in D.C. took one class in Economics.
Semper Fi,
Kelly
Already underway. We consistently get better analysis right here on FRee Republic than on the telly or in the newspapers.
hopefully...
Look for the left to pull out all of the stops and the money to pour in for Specter.
I am under no illusions at all.
There is little difference between having 41 senators, several who regularly vote with the other side, and 38 senators who are solidly in our camp.
I wouldn’t mind shedding a few more RINOs at this point (why am I thinking of Maine?). If they are truly as moderate as they claim, the RINOs will still vote Republican occasionally. In the meantime, we can start working on getting fresh, conservative blood into the leadership.
“When the going gets tough.....the tough get going.”
Let all of the squishy, self absorbed RINOs follw the lead of Benedict Specter and openly sign on with the party of RATs. Get them all out in the open so that they no longer pollute and bastardize our party and our country’s future.
This is a gauntlet that has been thrown down and as such we need to respond in a determined manner come the 2010 elections.
Let’s do it, People!
As long as the dems have ACORN we can kiss America goodbye.
Bingo! The truth is, though, the Dims have basically had a super majority since the election thanks to several RINO's like Specter, Snowe, et al.
Things will be a little bit different, now though. Bush is gone, can't blame him. If the Clown ultimately prevails (note I didn't say "win") in Minnesota, the Dims will have overwhelming, unstoppable majority in both houses with no one to blame but themselves. For the purposes of rebuilding and "rediscovering" their Conservative roots and principles, the 'Pubbies have just had a tremendous gift laid in their lap. The question is, will they seize the moment?
WHEN things start going bad. Not “if”.
While the Dems are busy painting Arlen Sphincter as a victim of cruel conservatives and portraying him a one of the greatest senators of all time (now that he's a Dim), they are overlooking the fact that they tried to replace him every time he was up for reelection.
If Sphincter is such a god-send and represents the people so well (as the Dims would have us believe is their motive), why did they oppose him in past elections? Why didn't they throw all the weight of their machine behind him?
Because they are lying, totalitarian bastards. Power is their motive and their goal.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out. My first instinct is that Specter’s defection won’t have much impact. We couldn’t count on him anyway, and I supsect the Democrats might not be able to either.
Also, I wonder if he will be handed the Democrat nomination, or if the nutroots crowd will “Ned Lamont” him. If I were a left-wing Democrat, I’d be thinking, “It’s nice that Arlen has decided to join us, for now, but why settle for a sort-of Democrat we cannot count on, when we could elect solid, left-winger?”
Even if he does get re-elected, as a Democrat, I don’t think he will necessarily move any farther to the left than he already is. He’d be 86 before he faced another election, meaning it would very likely be his final term, so he’d probably feel free to vote his conscience (if he has one).
Since we can’t count on Snowe or Collins to fillibuster, either, the Democrats already effectively had their 60, before Specter officially abandoned the GOP.
Specter sold his soul forty years ago.....
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