DeMartMan
New member
On Tuesday the announcement was made that Senator Specter was going to switch parties which brought the ire of some Conservatives. One person even speculated that Arlen Specter was being Black-mailed into this by the President. I wanted to take a moment to address the good and bad of this switch.
Putting aside any conspiracy theories, I think that those who are jumping for joy and those who feel betrayed need to calm down, as this switch will be for the most part meaningless. Specter will still be voting as a moderate as we have already seen. How is this switch good for the Democrats? It will put an end to the threat of an automatic filibuster, which seems to make Harry Reed shake with fear. Specter may feel less pressure to vote against the policies of the President, but he may still vote against them and join in on a filibuster. How is this good for Republicans? They may be able to elect a younger more Conservative person to replace Specter. How is it bad for Democrats? It is very unlikely that they will be able to replace Specter with a younger more progressive Senator.
As I said, this really is not what so many have made it to be. About all it will do is to (Maybe) force the politicians to work together for the best interest of America, maybe.
Putting aside any conspiracy theories, I think that those who are jumping for joy and those who feel betrayed need to calm down, as this switch will be for the most part meaningless. Specter will still be voting as a moderate as we have already seen. How is this switch good for the Democrats? It will put an end to the threat of an automatic filibuster, which seems to make Harry Reed shake with fear. Specter may feel less pressure to vote against the policies of the President, but he may still vote against them and join in on a filibuster. How is this good for Republicans? They may be able to elect a younger more Conservative person to replace Specter. How is it bad for Democrats? It is very unlikely that they will be able to replace Specter with a younger more progressive Senator.
As I said, this really is not what so many have made it to be. About all it will do is to (Maybe) force the politicians to work together for the best interest of America, maybe.