That aside, those who continue their scorched earth threats should never be taken seriously.
Specter asked for a fight and he got one. Nobody said anything until he opened his trap on Nov 3rd and vowed to fight Bush's pro-life justices, trying to reassure his liberal friends.
Personally I'd rather see Senate procedures bucked than to have Specter as Chairman of SJC. The SJC is too important.
Then the GOP better start looking for folks to outsource their GOTV efforts to--the usual suspects will NOT bother showing up in 2006 if Specter is the chair. And they'd better solicit more loot from Planned Parenthood--because the money will dry up, too.
I won't vote 3rd party--but I won't go the extra mile for a party that puts a backstabbing hack into a prime position.