So Arlen Specter is going to switch parties and become a Democrat. No, thanks. Seriously, we don’t need him. Let him go be an Independent.
Politics is more than a numbers game. There’s no point in adding one more vote when that voter doesn’t represent your values most of the time. Especially for the cost. What will it cost us to have Arlen Specter turn to our side? We’ll have another Joe Lieberman on our hands, and you’ve seen how well that’s been working out for us.
Lieberman has, on many occasions, held the Democratic Party hostage, catering to his every whim to keep him from voting with the Republicans. And how did he pay us back? He campaigned for John McCain!
How different will Arlen Specter be? Worse. Specter fought to have flu preparedness removed from the stimulus package, and now we have the Swine Flu, so his brand of leadership is already doing us harm. Specter is against the Employee Free Choice act which, to me, means corporate greed is a top priority for him. And we’re going to let someone with these kinds of values into our party NOW just for ONE swing vote?
Specter made clear today that he’s not going to change his conservative views on anything or “be an automatic Democratic vote”. Specter is doing this out of nothing more than a selfish attempt to keep his position in the Senate when challenged by more conservative Republicans in his home state. In other words, for Arlen Specter, this isn’t about either parties, any of the issues or democracy. This is about HIM and maintaining power – possibly obtaining even more with the fringe benefits that naturally come from being a swing vote.
(If Specter stays Republican he’ll probably be beat in the Republican Primaries by some extreme right-winger who will, in turn, either be beaten by a Democrat or become another office-holding Republican extremist, pushing the Republican Party even further out of the mainstream.)
So, Mr. Specter, take a page from My Declaration of Independence and Jim Jeffords. Go be an Independent, Mr. Specter, or you’ll be doing America more harm than good.
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