More like the other end of the Great Lakes, but since it's Wisconsin, I know what it's like. I've got a couple stories to share; two where the "Country Club" abandoned the conservative candidate and one where a conservative stormed the lieberal bastion.
First, there's the 1998 Senate race here. Mark Neumann won the primary and was running against Russ (Slimeroad) Feingold. There was absolutely no support from the Republican establishment (i.e. former Governor and HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson), and after a bitter campaign with a questionable late influx of cash to Slimeroad's coffers (so much for Campaign Finance Reform), Neumann fell just short.
Next, the 2002 governor's race. Tommy got miffed that his replacement, Scott McCallum, actually sought financial responsibility (Tommy pushed for and got the state to pay for 2/3rds of education costs on the canard of "property tax relief"; in response to the financial mess that caused, McCallum wanted to eliminate municipal revenue "sharing"), and had his brother (mayor of Tomah and most-infamous operator of illegal slot machines) run as a Libertarian. We got stuck with Jim (Craps) Doyle, who has vetoed a property tax freeze, a "conscience clause" that lets doctors opt out of certain medical procedures, concealed carry, voter ID, legislative oversight of Indian gaming compacts (this after he started signing eternal contracts that give very little money to the state),....
Yet, there's hope. In 2002, a pension scandal in Milwaukee County (the county dominated by "smokes-for-votes" Milwaukee and one of two RAT Machines) hounded the county executive (it's non-partisan, but Tom Ament was a member of the RAT Party) out of office. Scott Walker, a Pubbie legislator, ran for and got the seat, carrying 18 of 19 communities (he even carried Milwaukee), admittedly against a weak candidate. Earlier this month, he won re-election by essentially the same margin against a hired DemonRAT hack who made it clear he was running as a RAT. The difference here is the Pubbies didn't actively work to abandon Walker.
A different perspective - every state Bush wins, isolates the far left further and further to fringes allowing "decent" people of conscience to be drawn back into fill the power vacuum.
Agreed, though I don't see how Specter helps Bush win Pennsylvania. What Specter uniquely brings to the voting booth is more likely to vote for Ke(rr)y than for Bush.
How does this help America as a nation? Democrat "moderates" will be forced to work with Republicans on "conservative friendly" legislation and judicial appointments.
The judicial appointments are the brass ring.
That might (and does, with a strong executive) work at the state level, but the stakes are simply too high on the Federal level (after all, the Fed courts have decided nearly every last social and political issue the last 50 years). Hence the need for 60 Pubbies, preferably with spines and conservative constitutions. While Specter is nominally a Pubbie (and thus help keep the balance at least where it is), he has lost both his spine and conservative bearings.