RINO Leaves GOP - Arlen Specter Goes Democrat

Update: Washington D.C. - National GOP Chairman Michael Steele released the following additional statement this evening:

First - Specter claimed it was philosophical - and pointed his finger of blame at Republicans all over America for his defection to the Democrats. He told us all to go jump in the lake today. I'm sorry, but I don't believe a word he said. Arlen Specter committed a purely political and self-serving act today. He simply believes he has a better chance of saving his political hide and his job as a Democrat. He loves the title of Senator more than he loves the party - and the principles - that elected him and nurtured him.

Second - and more importantly - Arlen Specter handed Barack Obama and his band of radical leftists nearly absolute power in the United States Senate. In leaving the Republican Party - and joining the Democrats - he absolutely undercut Republicans' efforts to slow down Obama's radical agenda through the threat of filibuster.

Facing defeat in Pennsylvania's 2010 Republican primary due to his left-wing voting record, and an end to his 30 year career in the U.S. Senate, he has peddled his services - and his vote - to the leftist Obama Democrats who aim to remake America with their leftist plan.

As recently as April 9th, Senator Specter said he would run in the Pennsylvania primary next year as a Republican. Why the sudden change of heart? Clearly, this was an act based on political expediency by a craven politician desperate to keep his Washington power base--not the act of a statesman. His defection to the Democrat Party puts the Democrats in an almost unstoppable position to pass Obama's destructive agenda of income redistribution, health care nationalization, and a massive expansion of entitlements.

Arlen Specter has put his loyalty to his own political career above his duty to his state and nation.

HARRISBURG - Republican Party of Pennsylvania Chairman Rob Gleason released the following statement after hearing the news regarding Senator Arlen Specter's decision to leave the GOP:

I am deeply disappointed in Senator Arlen Specter's decision to leave the Republican Party, as he has benefited from the support of our Party for many years. It is apparent that he chose to act in his own self-interest and put his political ambitions first. The Republican Party has room for conservatives and moderates because we are the Party of ideas.

I, like many of my fellow Pennsylvania Republicans, took Senator Specter at his word when he said that he would not switch parties, and I believe he owes every Republican who has supported him over the last three decades an apology. I would urge Senator Specter to do the right thing and proactively return any and all campaign contributions he has received in recent months to run as a Republican in the upcoming election. I am sure that most, if not all, of these donors would not have supported a Democrat candidate. . . .

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RINO: "I now find my political philosophy more in line with Democrats than Republicans" -Arlen Spector
MSNBC News is reporting that Veteran Republican Sen. Arlen Specter disclosed plans Tuesday to switch parties, bringing Democrats closer to the 60-vote supermajority they need to push Barack Obama's agenda through the Senate. '"This is a painful decision," said Specter at a Tuesday afternoon news conference. "I know that I'm disappointing a lot of my friends and colleagues...the disappointment runs in both directions." . . . [Veteran GOP Sen. Specter switches parties]

AP reports: " Specter, 79 and seeking a sixth term in 2010, conceded bluntly that his chances of winning a Pennsylvania Republican primary next year were bleak in a party grown increasingly conservative. . . . "I have found myself increasingly at odds with the Republican philosophy and more in line with the philosophy of the Democratic Party," he said at a news conference. He added, "I am not prepared to have my 29 years' record in the United States Senate decided by the Pennsylvania Republican primary electorate." . . [Specter switches to Democrat,]

Politicol reports:

Senate Republican leaders are pushing back hard against the notion that their party is to blame for Sen. Arlen Specter’s defection to the Democrats. "This is not a national story. It is a Pennsylvania story," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky told reporters in a news conference following Tuesday’s GOP policy luncheon.

Texas Sen. John Cornyn, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said that Specter — who spoke at the lunch — had been “very candid to acknowledge that this was nothing more, nothing less than political self-preservation.” . . . McConnell said Specter told him of his decision late Monday, and that Specter had said he decided to make the switch because he couldn't win reelection as a Republican or an independent. . . . [GOP leaders... ]

Michael Steele, Chairman, Republican National Committee (RNC) in a released statement said: "Some in the Republican Party are happy about this. I am not. Let's be honest-Senator Specter didn't leave the GOP based on principles of any kind. He left to further his personal political interests because he knew that he was going to lose a Republican primary due to his left-wing voting record. Republicans look forward to beating Sen. Specter in 2010, assuming the Democrats don't do it first."

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