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Steele: Specter Left GOP Because Of His Left-Wing Voting Record, Would Have Lost Primary
RNC Chairman Michael Steele has released this statement on Arlen Specter's party switch:
"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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Josh
Matt
Eric
That's not completely untrue.
April 28, 2009 1:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Most of it's untrue. Why should Specter be described as not acting on principle? He's been ideologically uncomfortable among the Repubs for a long time. And now that they're insane . . .
April 28, 2009 1:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
As a Pa democrat for 25 years, Specter has done nothing to make me think he was in the wrong party.
April 28, 2009 1:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, you're right. But the RepubliFringe Party of today is a much more hostile place for moderates than in the past. Self-identifying GOOPers have dropped by fully one-quarter since 2004. It's a far cry from the Rockefeller Republican days.
April 28, 2009 2:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
What's fun is you can more or less directly rephrase Steele's comments as "Specter left the party because we physically pushed him out ourselves."
April 28, 2009 1:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
Michael Steele is always so on top of things.
April 28, 2009 1:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
After losing NY-20, I'll be amazed if this isn't the final nail in Steele's coffin at RNC.
April 28, 2009 1:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
Except for the part about Specter's voting record being "left wing." Apparently, to the RNC, anything less consevative than Ghenghis Khan is "left wing."
April 28, 2009 1:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
Steele's not happy, but Specter's a left winger who will be beat in 2010.
Huhnh???
Also Mikey, you might want to see what the Dems promised Alren before pronouncing him dead in the Demo primary.
April 28, 2009 1:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
Shorter Steele:
Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
April 28, 2009 1:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, the part about furthering his personal political interests is accurate.
Everything else? Not so much.
April 28, 2009 1:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
YAY!!!!!
among other things, with Franken on board also, this means WE WILL BE ABLE TO PASS MEANINGFUL HEALTH CARE REFORM!!! (and a host of other necessary things we haven't been able to do because of Repsublican obstruction...) :) :) :)
oh man, those right-wingers will be PISSED!!! YAY!!! :)
April 28, 2009 1:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
Says who?
Specter is not a given on any cloture vote nor is he a given on any underlying bill either. All this move did was try and secure that Specter would be on the general election ballot without a Democratic opponent to split the non-GOP vote and thereby potentially handing Toomey the seat.
Stop your chicken counting please.
Nothing has been hatched yet.
April 28, 2009 5:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
He's actually right. And while the DNC has promised not to fund or back any challenger, you have to believe they got something out of such deal. He's not going to get primaried out, and assuming Toomey is wing nutty enough, that should be enough to rally the left to vote for Specter even if they have to hold their nose in the booth.
As I said, unless Specter is a guaranteed cloture vote, I'd just as soon have ran a moderate Dem against Specter in 2010.
April 28, 2009 1:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
As I said, unless Specter is a guaranteed cloture vote, I'd just as soon have ran a moderate Dem against Specter in 2010.
Amen to this, although it would have been a moderate Dem against Toomey the Troglodyte.
April 28, 2009 1:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't think the Democrats will have to give up any more to get Senator Specter's vote than they already would have had to give up to secure Senator Evan Bayeh's vote.
Specter is almost guaranteed victory in the general election. I'd prefer a true Democrat in office, but I'll take a near-certain Specter victory over the risk of getting a hard-right idealogue like Toomey.
Also, even if Specter isn't a guaranteed vote on cloture, I'm sure the Democrats will get his support much more readily now that the Republicans no longer have an axe hanging over his head.
April 28, 2009 1:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
like it was said above, this statement is not untrue.
but who the hell cares??
no doubt the dems have gotten everything they want from spector to support this shift.
so i cant see how its anything but a big plus all the way around.
April 28, 2009 1:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
Excellent news for Michael Steele - ambulatory sack of hammers
April 28, 2009 1:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yes, Mikey, we're looking forward to Toomey trying to win over our Blue State with his wingnuttery.
But don't fret, Mikey, it won't be yours to worry about because you won't be the head of the RNC for long.
PEACE
April 28, 2009 1:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
Why is this Toole... er, Steele... still head of the GOP? I thought he was supposed to be gone if Tedisco lost.
April 28, 2009 1:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
shhhsshhhh, the longer he stays the better.
April 28, 2009 1:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
remember when steele said the tedisco election "was a refutation of the Obama policies"?
till the votes were actually counted....
lol
i doubt anyone is happy with steele but to dump him so fast would just create more of the republicans are losers narritive...
April 28, 2009 1:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
AHEM!!! Rush Limbaugh is the head of the GOP. No one has ever challenged him about that without later grovelling at Limbaugh's feet, his rank Limberger toe-cheesey feet and everything.
April 28, 2009 2:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
This was a smart move on Senator Specter's part. What politician is not acting in his own interest by choosing to be in the party they are in? Seems like a stupid point. Michael Steele is acting in hiw own political interests by choosing to be the leader of the RNC.
I think is outstanding for the demorats in the senate as they have a conservative member that will actually work with them to get things done. Honestly based on what Governor Rendell has stated publicly the republicans would lose the seat. I think Specter can win it and in fact it was his only chance to keep his seat.
Now as someone said above, as soon as Franken gets seated the senate will be able to get meaningful legislation passed and maybe, just maybe the republicans will stop acting like children holding their breath until they get what they want, they will start trying to cooperate and contribute.
April 28, 2009 1:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
everyone acts in their own interests..always!
April 28, 2009 1:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
And as I said above. Don't count your cloture vote chickens yet. They ain't been hatched yet.
April 28, 2009 5:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
Michael Steele's Republican Party--now even wingier and nuttier!
April 28, 2009 1:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
Your comment goes SO well with your photo!:o)
April 28, 2009 1:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't know. Some commenters are saying Spector is just saving his political skin, "but OK we'll take it." But a politician who actually has principles and view about stuff has to make these kinds of decisions sometimes. The GOP really has gone nuts while Spector more or less stayed in place. There's no need to be cynical about what he's done.
April 28, 2009 1:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
BBBBWWWHHHHAAaaaaaaa.... ROFLOL...................BBBHHWWWAWAAAAAaaaaaaaa...
Cornyn bites the dust on another issue.....BBHHHWWAAAAaaaaaaaa......
Steele? Did he get his questions/statements cleared thru Rush and Glenn ??
BBBBBWWWWWHHHHHaaaaaaaaaa.............
April 28, 2009 1:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
What's hilarious is that Steele validates Specter as a Democrat in his statement. Good work!
April 28, 2009 1:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
Specter is more an Independent than a Demo.
April 28, 2009 1:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
Nice how he directly contradicted himself. If Specter has a "left-wing" voting record (which he doesn't), then principles-wise he wouldn't fit with the GOP, yet according to Steele principles mean squat.
You can acknowledge ones principles while still finding their actions self-serving, y'know...
April 28, 2009 1:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ssshhhhh,...don't wake the Chairman
April 28, 2009 1:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Balz thinks thiswas the wake-up call?
The Villagers are out to lunch.
April 28, 2009 1:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
The GOP are in serious trouble now in not only the Northeast, but politially. They needed mored moderate Repblicans. Most of them are too radical. They have to be nervous. They cannot fillerbuster Obama's agenda's. The Dems must be doing cartwheels. They are also too regional. They have lost the NE, the NW and CA. Most of their supporters are in the SE and a few Rocky Mountain and plain states. They barely won MO.
April 28, 2009 1:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Steele is right about Specter switching to save his own butt. Specter is all bark and no bite who always ended up playing the gop loyalist. I would have much preferred a real democrat winning Penn.. He is just going to be another Ben Nelson who wishes to hold the party hostage in order to further his own self-interest. I do hope he gets a primary challenge who will at least be supported by the unions. However, it is fun to watch the gop squirm all over about this.
April 28, 2009 1:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
On another note, how are the committees reoganized since Specter was the gop member in many of them? Does it require senate approval? If so maybe dems can use the whole coleman debacle against the gop.
April 28, 2009 1:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
who always ended up playing the gop loyalist
Here's hoping for more "GOP loyalists"!
I agree though he was never very smooth with the two step (not like our DiFi!) but the kicker is ..he won't have to make right wing votes to cover his butt any longer
April 28, 2009 1:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Cue Glenn "Big Baby" Beck claiming President Obama either blackmailed or cast a spell on Specter in 5,4,3,2...
April 28, 2009 1:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yo whining dems.....this is what happens when the political tide is moving your way
It happened after the 1994 Gingrich Revolution too
Stop your whining for five minutes and enjoy!
April 28, 2009 1:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
This helps to further define Republicans as a regional (southern) political party with little political viability north of the Mason-Dixon line.
The Republican Party continues to practice a slow political suicide. They seem to believe that if they continue moving even further to the right, shedding more moderate Republicans along the way in their quest for ideological purity, that sooner or later voters will jump on a sinking ship.
It's not surprising they are also talking about secession, because the Republican Party seems to be re-enacting the Civil War. By the time they realize their strategy is not working, Grant will have beaten Lee and Sherman will have marched to the sea.
April 28, 2009 1:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
I see two things at work:
1) the GOP has moved so far to the right, that Specter was just left behind. Now Rush is in charge, and the longer that is true, the better for Democrats. Specter just made it obvious that the GOP is now a secessionist, no-compromise party similar to the Confederates.
2) Specter is no prize for the Democrats. It would have been much better to have him lose to the wingnut, and then Pa can elect a true progressive Democrat.
April 28, 2009 2:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Interesting how Specter's defection comes on the heels of a White House meeting Obama had last week with senior Congressional repubs.
It was reported that Obama gave the repubs a very clear 'shit or get off the pot' speech about bipartisanship with Obama and Dems.
Not so clear, at least in the report that I read, was the repubs response back to Obama during this meeting.
Did Specter just give us a glimpse into the repub response to Obama???
April 28, 2009 2:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
The last time a Republican defected (Jeffords) it was away from the party of the President. This time it's Specter defecting to the party of the President.
Another sign of the accelerating decline of the GOP, centrifuging itself into a toxic concentrate of wingnut.
April 28, 2009 2:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
Wow...a rational statement coming from Michael Steele. What's next, philosophical theory from Michelle Bachmann.
April 28, 2009 2:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
Michael Steele may feel a bit reactionary now for threatening to hold back financial support from Specter for his vote on the Stimulus Bill. Their tent is definitely shrinking. Any suggestions on where the Republicans should hold their next convention? It's not going to need to be a very large facility. Maybe a community VFW building.
April 28, 2009 3:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
It actually made sense. It was definitely that Specter was going to lose in the primary that drove him to the Democratic Party. That is, he would have stayed R if this were 2008 or 2006 or even 2012. But, given that in 2010 he has an election and a GOP electorate that is extremely conservative right now, he had to defect.
Now, the question is whether he'll be an annoying comrade or a hard working Obama supporter.
April 28, 2009 3:58 PM | Reply | Permalink