Senator Specter Switches Parties

Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania has decided to change his party affiliation from Republican to Democrat, giving the majority party 59 votes (including two pro-Democrat Independents), and 60 once Franken is (ever) sworn in as Minnesota's junior senator. This would give the Democrats (and President Obama) the needed 60 votes needed to defeat Republican stonewalling tactics through their filibustering.

Senator Specter reportedly didn't switch for this reason, though. He recognized that his base of support among Pennsylvania Republicans was with the party's moderates. And many of them switched parties last year. So he knew that he would have a difficult time next year winning his own party's nomination for his Senate seat against a hard-line conservative, former Representative Pat Toomey, who was leading Specter among Pennsylvania Republicans in a recent poll. Specter, as a Democrat, may also have challenges in the primary next year, but his political ideology is not that much different from his Democratic Senate colleague Bob Casey (although Casey is pro-life and Specter pro-choice). I believe that this move was wise on the part of Specter, and the way should be clear now for him to win another term of office.

I have written before of my admiration and support of Arlen Specter. During the Republican period as the Senate majority party, he showed great fairness as the Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman during a time of intense partisan rancor regarding Bush judicial appointees. My main concern now is for his health, for he has been suffering for some years now from cancer (Hodgkin's lymphoma) and has twice had to submit himself to periods of chemotherapy. I wish the best for him, both politically and personally.