[Badray]

One other comment. I'd still rather have 41 solid conservatives who will fight for principle than 59 squishy RINOs that do not hold our values as dear as we do. We lose with RINOs.

[DameAutour]

I'd still rather have 41 solid conservatives who will fight for principle than 59 squishy RINOs that do not hold our values as dear as we do. We lose with RINOs.

Sorry, but you lose worse with Democrats. Haven't we learned anything from the last 50 years? The Democrats absolutely cannot be allowed to make gains in Congress. We can't afford to go backwards.

The time to replace "RINOs" with "conservatives" is in the primary. Most RINOs are preferable to Democrats, because most RINOs can be bullied into voting on conservative issues, even a little bit of the time (whereas Democrats will do it none of the time). I previously posted to Freerepublic some of the things that the Republican Senate has accomplished. They will accomplish more when there are more conservatives, but you're not going to get that with Joe Hoeffel.

However, I understand that Arlen Specter is not your typical RINO, he's worse. He's a traitor, a man of no principles. And he will certainly cause damage as head of the Judiciary Committee. But you have to weigh the possible damage he will cause in 6 years, with the decades of damage Democrats will cause if they make gains in the Senate.

[zeugma]

I agree with you Badray. Nuke him. He's much worse than the alternative. I'm saddened that Toomey lost. Your work against Arlen is appreciated in some quarters here.

[Steve Eisenberg]

I'd still rather have 41 solid conservatives who will fight for principle than 59 squishy RINOs that do not hold our values as dear as we do.

This is putting it with great honesty. It makes more sense than the argument that we should vote down Specter to put in Kyl as chairman, since Hoeffel would probably be reelected several times, making the highly speculative idea that Kyl can push through real conservatives onto the Supreme Court less of a consideration.

One has to consider that with Hoeffel in, the Democrats will be that much more liberal/socialist next time they regain control. Therefore, Mr. Horvath is really proposing a model for the US where we careen from left to right, rather than typically governing from the center. Such careening is exactly what Argentina has been doing since the 1930's, and it has propelled that country practically from first to third world. Reading Argentine history is recommended.

I voted for Toomey last month and will likely vote for Specter in November. If by some chance there is a Democratic landslide, I won't like it, but I will rest comfortable in knowledge that America is a politically moderate nation characterized by rotation in office between coalition parties.