Sort of like Jim Jeffords did back in '02--which then drove Rove & Co. to steal the Senate seats in Georgia (Saxby Chambliss) and Colorado (Wayne Allard), probably New Hampshire (John Sununu) and maybe Minnesota (Norm Coleman), all four pick-ups giving the Repubs a sudden big advantage.
Thus Jeffords' move provoked a crime spree that included the illegal software patches surreptitiously applied to the e-voting machines in two Georgia counties; the phone-jamming scheme in southern New Hampshire; and other dirty moves (which some would say--although I never would!--included the assassination of Paul Wellstone). It was, in short, an action-packed Election Day that year, and fraught with wild anomalies--but the exit polls did not illuminate the situation, since, that year, there weren't any! (The result of a mysterious computer glitch, reportedly.) So if Bush/Cheney's party doesn't just give up the ghost, as it really should have done some time ago, next year's Election Day should be a real humdinger. MCM <http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/senate/specter-to-switch-parties.html?hpid=topnews> Specter To Switch Parties http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/senate/specter-to-switch-parties.html?hpid=topnews Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter will switch his party affiliation from Republican to Democrat and announced today that he will run in 2010 as a Democrat, according to a statement he released this morning. Specter's decision would give Democrats a 60 seat filibuster proof majority in the Senate assuming Democrat Al Franken is eventually sworn in as the next senator from Minnesota. (Former senator Norm Coleman is appealing Franken's victory in the state Supreme Court.) "I have decided to run for re-election in 2010 in the Democratic primary," said Specter in a statement. "I am ready, willing and anxious to take on all comers and have my candidacy for re-election determined in a general election." He added: "Since my election in 1980, as part of the Reagan Big Tent, the Republican Party has moved far to the right. Last year, more than 200,000 Republicans in Pennsylvania changed their registration to become Democrats. I now find my political philosophy more in line with Democrats than Republicans." President Obama was informed of Specter's decision at around 10:25 a.m., according to White House officials, and reached out to the senator minutes later to tell him "you have my full support," and we are "thrilled to have you." Specter as a Democrat would also fundamentally alter the 2010 calculus in Pennsylvania as he was expected to face a difficult primary challenge next year from former Rep. Pat Toomey. The only announced Democrat in the race is former National Constitution Center head Joe Torsella although several other candidates are looking at the race. The precariousness of Specter's political position -- a Republican in a Democratic-leaning state -- was on display earlier this year when he was one of three GOP senators to back President Obama's $787 billion economic stimulus plan. That vote was strongly condemned by conservative Republicans and Toomey used that vote as the launching pad for his candidacy. Because of the shrinking Republican vote in the state, Specter was seen as a dead man walking politically in the primary with polling showing him trailing Toomey by ten or more points. The bar for Specter to run as an independent was also extremely high due to the rules governing such a third party candidacy. That left a Democratic candidacy as Specter's best option if he wanted to remain in the Senate beyond 2010. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to Mark Crispin Miller's "News From Underground" newsgroup. To unsubscribe, send a blank email to newsfromunderground-unsubscr...@googlegroups.com OR go to http://groups.google.com/group/newsfromunderground and click on the "Unsubscribe or change membership" link in the yellow bar at the top of the page, then click the "Unsubscribe" button on the next page. For more News From Underground, visit http://markcrispinmiller.com -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
