I'm not quite sure what this means yet.  Is Spector doing this just so he can retain his seat for this upcoming election?  Is he calling himself a Democrat while siding with many Republican initiatives?  Can the people of Pennsylvania trust him when he opens his mouth?  Is he trying to have it both ways?  We'll see.

Hear Ye, Hear Ye! We will have health care reform this year. There is now a super majority in the US Senate. Now that is what I call a mandate!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm sure the No Party will be screaming NO!

Specter is still rather conservative, but after he feels the right wing hate for a few months, he'll be pushed to the left of Pelosi in short order. Give him time.

Perhaps now he'll be able to vote his conscience instead of worrying about what the right-wing whackjobs in the Republican party think.

Simply a politicians who saw that he was going to get creamed in the primary and switched sides. I've lived in PA, it's a swing state with two senators that swing from left to right depending on the prevailing winds. 

Perhaps he'll get  to do more hearings on the all too important issue of steroid use in professional baseball

Only one in five American voters today identify themselves as Republican.

The heaviest concentration of Republicans is found in the southeast bible belt region of the nation and of course in Kern County.

Specter said the GOP has "moved too far to the extreme right" and alienated Republican moderates who have switched their allegiance to the Democratic Party which has moved toward the sensible center.

The extreme right adamantly refuses to deal with the hated commie liberals who they believe are bent on establishing a socialist state.

GOP chairman Steele, Mitch McConnell, Boehner and other conservative hacks who have vilified Specter don't seem to get that the people are not buying their failed party's stale message of "small government," unfettered, corrupt unregulated "free" marketeering and corporate carpetbaggery has very nearly bankrupted the nation.

Specter gets it. That's why he broke with the GOP party line on several key issues including the stimulus legislation.

Of course Specter wants to keep his job representing Pennsylvania, independently voting his mind and conscience as he has since 1980.

As a Democrat, centrists understand that Specter will continue to vote independently as he has stated unequivocally that he "will not be an an automatic 60th Democratic vote" but Democrats nonetheless welcome him with open arms.

While a Republican, Specter and a few other GOP moderates were the true models of bipartisanship among the lockstep extremist right who defiantly believe their stubborn intractability is somehow good for the country while all that is moderate is evil.

Maybe now we can get a health plan passed and enact other needed legislation without the usual Republican obstruction to anything progressive.

Republican moderates

imo....there are conservatives...then there is everything else lumped together under the democrat, or liberal role.  i disassociated myself from the Republican party during W's first term

btw..you can have that flip flop, lobby compromised sencond guesser...and its gonna come back and bite your party...he's infidel...only loyal to himself...especially around re-election time

he has shown his true stripes in the past

If he is a trader of one party, he'll be a trader to his new party. Hopefully the voters in PA kick him to the curb. He's been up there to dang long anyway. If I were a constituent of his I'd call his office and play them the song, Get On Down, Get On Down the Road.

Spector is the lamest excuse for a Conservative ever to (dis)grace the halls of the Senate.   The only reason he ran to the Democratic party is he is completely unelectable as a Republican - due in large measure to his liberal voting record and his support for the corporate Bail-Outs.

The Republicans won't miss him, the Conservatives are happy he's gone and the Democrats are rubbing their hands in glee.  

He's taking a calculated risk - Once he has renounced his party he will never be fully trusted by his new party - once a traitor, always a traitor. As a result, he's going to have to bargain like never before to bring home the bacon.

My prediction:  It won't matter a bit... He won't make it past the primaries and if by some miracle he does, he will get soundly trounced by the voters who know they cannot trust him.

 "Only one in five American voters today identify themselves as Republican."

Only one in five American voters polled today identify themselves as Republican. = Corrected that for ya, with polled being the opertive word.

Specter is a lame joke just like kennedy, kerry , byrd and the rest of the nitwit dem nutters.

kcnative: 'polled today' is a correct observation, but you must realize that the likelihood of the actual number being smaller than reported is the same as the likelihood of the actual number being larger. Could be that nationally, 15% or so call themselves Rebpulicans.

aside from that, please refrain from phrases such as 'nitwit dem nutters', and vacantdave: ditto phrases like right wing whackjobs"

I am just wondering how long its going to take for Coleman and Franken to be resolved. It seems forever

Well, this will save a lot of time in the Senate now, assuming he votes with the Democrats.  Also, it looks like potential Republican "swingers" just lost some bargaining power.

Now I hope the Democrats will use the force wisely, or else they will actually deserve all the negative attention they get from the right.  We'll see.

Perhaps now he'll be able to vote his conscience instead of worrying about what the right-wing whackjobs in the Republican party think.

He's got no business voting his conscience. He was elected to vote for the will of the people he represents. Whichever party he decides to belong to doesn't matter. He (and the rest of the elected representatives, for that matter) needs to do his job and pass the legislation that his constituents want.

please refrain from phrases such as 'nitwit dem nutters'

Please hold your breath while waiting for that to happen.

No, the House of REPRESENTATIVES vote the will of their constituents. Senators have more leeway, at least in theory. It's one of those pesky little 'checks and balances' that crops up from time to time.

Senators are supposed to represent the state or ar least that's the way the founding fathers planned it.

Specter campaigned as a Republican and was elected by Republicans not democrats and should therefor be immediately removed from office by what ever means are necessary to get that job done.

You Dems can have Snow and Collins too!  Good riddance.

The guy is 79 years old! Time to go home and rest. 

I'm going to love it in a few years when almost every major policy pushed by the Obama Administration works.

proam - so what if he's 79?  Strom Thurmond had 20 years on that before he stepped down and later croaked.

Curt: "Spector is the lamest excuse for a Conservative ever to (dis)grace the halls of the Senate.   The only reason he ran to the Democratic party is he is completely unelectable as a Republican - due in large measure to his liberal voting record and his support for the corporate Bail-Outs."

No, he sees the pattern: Republicans nominate the most "ideologically pure" (i.e. rabidly conservative and reactionary) candidate during their primary, only to have their heads handed to them in the general. There is no more "big tent" for the Republicans. It has become a regional party of religion and racism. They made a deal with the Dixiecrats after LBJ signed the Civil Rights Acts in 1964. Then they brought on the born-again evangelicals in the 1970s and '80s. Two Faustian deals that have served them well, no? Until last year the Dems didn't stand a chance unless they ran a Southerner that could break the Republican "southern strategy" enough to squeek out wins. Bush squeeked out two wins with that strategy, then went forth a destroyed any moderate voices with irresponsible spending, two wars, and playing politics with the government. He's alienated a generation and bankrupted the Republican's political strategy.

"My prediction:  It won't matter a bit... He won't make it past the primaries and if by some miracle he does, he will get soundly trounced by the voters who know they cannot trust him."

Well, you're also leaving out two years of obstructionism that he just ruined for the Republicans. The only way they'll be paid attention to is if they bring something to the table. Which means they're forced to come up with ideas, instead of being the Party of No. Good luck pushing tax cuts in the next election cycle.....

All that's left of the "purified" GOP are angry conservative extremists smugly clinging to the delusion that moderates and centrists are merely a bunch of idiot socialists.

You'd almost feel sorry for them, if they weren't so hostile and had any common sense.

In his news conference of Tuesday, Specter highlighted the new Republican strategy of torpedoing their own party's moderates to back ultra conservative candidates who mostly can't make it past the primaries to win a general state election outside of their evangelistic base.

Trouble is, most voters are rejecting the message of obfuscation and obstructionism.

As evidenced by some of the comments here, the diehard ultra conservatives remaining in the party's decimated ranks have taken to loudly and scornfully vilifying anyone who fails to embrace the angry extremist role the new party has cast itself in.

Specter, along with Snow and Collins were deemed traitors for their courageous affirmative votes on the stimulus package. It doesn't matter whether the legislation was good, bad, right or wrong. Today, the new GOP mantra is all about obstructionism.

While demonizing moderates and centrists in its quest to purify its ranks and purge the party of commies, the RNC has crapped and puked on its collective self and no one except the remaining hostile extremists wants to be around its reeking carcass any longer.

It's quite an exclusive club the Republicans have made for themselves.

But no one with any common sense wants to join up or belong any more.

I don't expect anyone to read this post because it's not gloating or mean spirited.

 I hate to see Arlen Spector abandon the Republican party.  As I keep repeating,  America needs a two party system. 

Can you imagine what would happen if either party totally controlled America.  We would only hear one side of every issue and there wouldn't be any checks and balances to curb the most outrageous legislation put forth by some wrongheaded politician.

The saddest thing is, the conservatives are dissolving in their own bitter gall.  They need to pull they heads out of their hinder parts and start talking about what they can do better for America instead of what they feel the liberals are messing up.  They need to get away from the silliness of birth certificates, dogs, bowing to Saudi chiefs, Michele's physique,  shaking hands with dictators and weird gifts to old Monarchs.  They need to start talking about real issues.

I thought this bitterness  was only among conservative voters, however,  it's even evident at the local political level.  In today's Bakersfield Californian three conservative leaders were asked what were  the five best and worse things that Obama has done since he took office 100 days ago.  Their answers for the best 5 things were  #1 lacking one item  #2  silly  #3 spiteful  #4 lacking in sportmanship like behavior   #5 beneath them as public officials

There's no doubt that the Republican party is self destructing.  But,  the odd thing is, instead of leaving the party today is the best opportunity for some young Republican with a solid  background in the fundamentals of conservativism to take over the leadership of his party.

So, get a clue conservatives.  Get over your bitterness and rebuild your party based on the principals espoused by Eisenhower.   America can use your thoughtful input.

I agree, Mom.  I was so embarrassed reading those comments in the paper today.  Talk about childish.

What made it even more embarrassing was the contrast to the responses from the Sounding Board members at the back of the local section.  All of these responses were measured, articulate and intelligent. 

I don't expect for local political leaders to agree with me on politics, but I do expect them to be professional and behave more maturely than a 6-year-old. 

Oh well.  They aren't members of MY party, thank God.

saberhagen and audreyb: both very thoughtful posts.

I think thoughtfulness such as you model here is the key to a healthy polity. When the conservatives re-learn that lesson and re-constitute themselves such that they represent the same from their perspective will be a good day for the country.

In the meantime, perhaps we can finally get a sensible national health care system in place.

 he is completely unelectable as a Republican 

except for the other 5 times he was elected

Specter campaigned as a Republican and was elected by Republicans not democrats and should therefor be immediately removed from office by what ever means are necessary to get that job done.

since when are senate elections closed?  oh KCnative, get schooled yet again, horrible point

You Dems can have Snow and Collins too!  Good riddance.

eventually you are going to run out of people to alienate.

If he is a trader of one party, he'll be a trader to his new party. Hopefully the voters in PA kick him to the curb. He's been up there to dang long anyway. If I were a constituent of his I'd call his office and play them the song, Get On Down, Get On Down the Road.

Huh?WTF? i don't get it omg imrotflmfao

traitor???? i have no idea what he is saying, incoherent.....

oh i get it, like trading political favors