Specter Faces Make-or-Break Decision ( May leave GOP )

THE HILL ^ | 03/07/09 | Alexander Bolton

[kellynla]

Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) does not have the fall-back option of running as an independent should he lose his 2010 primary election, giving the senior lawmaker strong incentive to abandon his party this year.

Specter faces an extremely difficult primary race against former Rep. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), the conservative firebrand who lost his bid to oust Specter from his seat in the 2004 GOP primary by a mere 17,000 votes (out of more than a million cast).

[kellynla]

Don't let the door hit you in the ass, Arlene...

[icwhatudo]

If he becomes a democrat, how will we be able to tell?

[Red Badger]

He used to be a (D)..............

[Westbrook]

Good riddance.

Please close the door tightly behind you, thank you.

[indylindy]

He still is.

[McGruff]

My thoughts exactly. You don’t have Bush and Rove to save your butt this time.

[kittymyrib]

What difference will this make? None.

[LS]

Really. So sick of this piece of dog excrement.

[Gondring]

If he becomes a democrat, how will we be able to tell?

Caucusing numbers, committee assignments, votes...minor things like that.

It's too bad this is coming so late. If it had been a few years earlier, the GOP couldn't have put Alito and Roberts on SCOTUS. :-(

</sarc>

I love how the zeal to destroy the GOP position (and glee over the prospect) is greater than it is for knocking out Democrats from their seats.

[Doogle]

If he becomes a democrat, how will we be able to tell?

he'll start wearing dresses

[Energizer45678]

Bye bye Arlen— Pennsylvania’s useless Senator.

[gridlock]

DLTDHYOTWO, Arlen.

So, how do you think a three-way fight would play out?

Maybe Alen would draw more from the Democrat side, and a disciplined Republican campaign could prevail.

[Dahoser]

The question is, will the GOP support Toomey?

[stockpirate]

Who can fprget Bush telling everyone that Arleen is a good conservative.

I know, some here still think Bush is a conservative and Obama is a moderate.

[free from tyranny]

This is PA! The dead vote early and vote often! Our very own ghoul, fast Eddie Rendel, is still the Governor and will make certain that all proper votes will be counted. Arlen has nothing to worry about.

[Titus Quinctius Cincinnatus]

Specter’s a Republican?

[SueRae]

He left a looong time ago.

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

“Specter could run as an independent or return to the Democratic Party. He switched to the Republican Party in 1965 to run as district attorney in heavily Democratic Philadelphia in 1965.
“

[stockpirate]

Get rid of Arleen a few years ago by having a real conservative in his seat. We would still have Alito and Roberts. Just one less RINO.

[theDentist]

If he becomes a democrat, how will we be able to tell?

He'll be given a pass by the press of he tells a joke about minorities.

[Izzy Dunne]

If he becomes a democrat, how will we be able to tell?

We can laugh at him WITHOUT tears.

[Titus Quinctius Cincinnatus]

I know, some here still think Bush is a conservative

Bush WAS a conservative - after all, he wanted to conserve the big government, big spending ways of his predecessor in office, and which had been the tendency in the US government since the 1930s.

I, on the other hand, am a radical who wants to dynamite the whole thing (figuratively, of course) and reduce the gov't back to its proper limits.

[randita]

If Specter changes party affiliation to Democrat and assuming Toomey is a shoe-in for the GOP nod, I will change my registration to Democrat to vote against him in the Democrat Primary. I’m sure I won’t be the only Pennsylvanian to do so.

[misterrob]

He voted like a democrat on the porkulus package. Is the party really going to miss him all that much?

[SECURE AMERICA]

Don’t let the door hit you in the ass, Arlene...

As a Pennsyvanian who was not represented by Specter because he was a lying sack of crap about what he was I could not agree more.

[cblue55]

What’s make or break about this?

[Michigan Bowhunter]

Pack you sheeeeiiiitttt and get the phuck out !!!!!!!

[Michigan Bowhunter]

Pack you sheeeeiiiitttt and get the phuck out !!!!!!!

[Old Retired Army Guy]

I think the GOP will support Toomey, but unless things change he loses to whoever the Dem. candidate is in PA.

[ladyvet]

[silverleaf]

I hope this 80 yr old addled narcissist runs again for senate as a democrat!

Rules out any conflict in getting GOP money

but someone how I doubt the dems really want him

[Theodore R.]

Does he have to have Rendell’s permission to switch? I think he should switch — this will show how wrong GWB was about Specter.

[Terrence DoGood]

Who gives a sh*t. Good riddance loser

[SoFloFreeper]

Bye, AS.

[Neverforget01]

If he runs as a Democrat, will the Democrats vote for him? No party wants a traitor; traitors can't be trusted.

[FatherofFive]

If he becomes a democrat, how will we be able to tell?

He'll stop paying taxes.

[when the time is right]

I think it is better to have a real Donkey than a RINO behaving like an Ass.

[topher]

If he becomes a democrat, how will we be able to tell?

When he suffers FOOT-IN-MOUTH-Disease

[kabar]

If he is the nominee, the GOP has no choice.

[ConservativeMind]

“But, we need every RINO we can get!”

[kabar]

“A candidate who loses in a primary cannot run as an independent in the general election,” said Leslie Amoros, press secretary for the Pennsylvania Department of State.”

Specter is disadvantaged by the fact that Pennsylvania’s primaries are closed; independents and Democrats are barred from voting in the GOP contest.

[Major Matt Mason]

I have a better idea, Arlen - retire! You're old, and have had a far longer run than you deserved.

[kabar]

I doubt he would get the Dem nomination. He would have to run in a primary against real Dems. Why vote for Specter when you can get a real Dem?

[NewJerseyJoe]

> If he becomes a democrat, how will we be able to tell?

You can tell by him losing the election. Much as Dems have used him as a "useful idiot," they'll never elect him as 'one of their own' when they have far more liberal players to nominate.

[bestintxas]

One of Bush’s low points was backing this person for reelection.

He will never be reelected again.

Retire gracefully, Senator.

[Gondring]

Reactionary, I believe. :-)

[Gondring]

I think the GOP will support Toomey, but unless things change he loses to whoever the Dem. candidate is in PA.

Yes, and 0bama will be able to move ahead more smoothly, without the threat of delays or the need to make any deals.

[oust the louse]

He can be welcomed in to the (AC) party...who’s motto is “Azz Clowns for a crappier tomorrow because we are spending wildly like a whore after a weekend brothel party”...

[A Strict Constructionist]

“The question is, will the GOP support Toomey?”

Not likely, that would be too...disloyal, to a former colleague.

Friendship first...the country last.

[Neverforget01]

Yes, and 0bama will be able to move ahead more smoothly, without the threat of delays or the need to make any deals.

And that would change things how exactly?