Posted on 09/15/2010 2:31:44 AM PDT by woofie
When Sen. Arlen Specter (R2D2, Pa.) became a Democrat in April 2009, we argued that "the GOP would have been far better off had it persuaded him to remain in the fold." We faulted conservative stalwart Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina for saying, in effect: Good riddance. We saw Specter's switch in isolation and did not imagine it was the start of a trend. We were wrong.
Specter, who leans left but is steadfast in defense of whatever he finds expedient for as long as he finds it expedient, faced a challenge that at the time was unique to him. In 2004, he had nearly been defeated in the Republican primary by conservative ex-Rep. Pat Toomey. Toomey promised a 2010 rematch, and Specter, having voted for President Obama's $787 squillion so-called stimulus bill, faced near-certain defeat.
Instead, he opted for uncertain defeat, to which he went down in the Democratic primary. In this age of partisan polarization, Republicans and Democrats found something on which they could agree: Arlen Specter does not belong in the Senate.
Toomey, who ran unopposed in the primary, is now heavily favored to win the seat in November. Meanwhile, similar scenarios emerged in six other Senate races, as establishment favorites lost the GOP nomination to more conservative challengers:
In Florida, Gov. Charlie Crist followed Specter's lead and left his party when it became clear he would lose the Senate primary to Marco Rubio, a former speaker of the state House. In Alaska and Utah, Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Bob Bennett fell to Tea Party candidates. In Colorado and Nevada, conservative candidates won primaries to take on incumbent Democratic senators. (snip)
A liberal media narrative developed: Republicans were hopelessly divided, riven by a "civil war." ..........
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Screw that.
We're at war with Liberals. All Liberals.
We're just not sure who's all on our side, yet.
Which the conservatives are winning!
Good God, not THIS crap?
Actual primary battles, with people voting and INVIGORATING the stale old party, bringing in new blood, new ideas, making this the party where interesting things are happening.
Meanwhile, the Dems are fat and sitting around with the same old crowd.
I guess having primaries is a sign of “civil war” now?
I’m sorry, what a stupid, lazy “meme” that’s floating around the press.
He was a democRAT long before then. He just put a "D" next to his name in 2009.
BTW it’s the lib media idea I’m blasting here. Taranto is also attacking it in this article. While he’s not exactly a hardcore right-winger, his “Best of the Web” daily emailing is good stuff, and he’s on the right side of things most of the time.
Arlen Specter should be a case study for all the FReepers pushing the narrative that Mike Castle should have won, thereby securing a Republican senate majority.
*** BUMP *** !!!
Nail. Hammer. Slammed.
Yeah I read it yesterday on Best of the Web. I was reacting to his last line in the excerpt when he was writing about liberals.
you can get killed incidentally, without consideration or condolance.
the things in the middle of the road get squished.
“Progressives.”
Specter
Crist
Bennett
Murkowski
Castle
I understand O'Donnell got 45% last time against Vice-moron Biden....maybe she can pull this off, maybe not. Without her winning, an R Senate may not happen, but it was always a very long shot anyway. CT and WV are tightening so who knows. If the pubbies end up with 48 or 49 seats, they can pick up another handful in '12.
The funny thing is that if Castle had won, his supporters would be trashing ODonnell supporters if they don’t get behind Castle anyway. Yet when ODonnell wins, the Castle supporters are acting like there’s no point in voting.
This is the thing to understand about RINOs. They’re bottom feeding leeches who would happily hand a race to the democrats simply to have the opportunity to say “I told you so”.
Definately not sure about you or anyone else, but I am at war with liberals and Progressive RINOs.....apparently, many in the Tea Party are as well.
It seems to us, though, that the snobbish attitude displayed by Packer and Sullivan is a particular conceit of the left, and a big reason why the public has soured so quickly on Democratic rule. Obama comes across as "the voice of reason incarnate" only to an obnoxious know-it-all like Packer. To a normal person, he comes across as another obnoxious know-it-all.LOL!
She got 35% not 45%. Biden beat her worse than Obama beat McCain in DE.
What distresses me is that THIS CRAP is coming from the Wall Street Journal! IMHO, if their POLITICAL writings are not dependable or pro-American, then SCREW their financial writings, too! Let WSJ die like the REST of the turncoat rags in the dinosaur media!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.