What was the genuine principle that prompted Arlen to switch parties, other than him being "disapppointed" that the Republicans didn't want him?

Hello?

And I don't ever recall Obama saying he would choose a candidate for the SC based on that individual's politics, Orrin.

When a Republican is President, that President is allowed to nominate a conservative to the Court. When a Democrat is President, that individual is supposed to nominate a conservative to the Court. Why does the media not point this out?

And somewhat OT, but John King on CNN is virtually unwatchable for me at this point. He may as well change his name to John King, R-CNN at this point.

Empathy is a "code word" for activist? Only in the sick world of Sen. Orrin Hatch.

I think we should start laying the groundwork to take more seats in the house and senate in 2010!

AND I, in CO, will donate to support a challenger to Sen. Specter of the 'I just want to get elected' Party in PA.

Orrin The Hatch doesn't like activism damn it!

Anyone see Arlen push that same "We'd have gotten 34 republican judges" line again? He's dripping desperation. Cosign Synchronicity- I in SC will donate to support Joe Sestak or any other legitimate "LOYAL" democrat.

How the hell is Arlen getting away with this BS?
"Did you tell President Obama you'd be a loyal democrat?" - Gregory
"I never said that!" - Arlen the Specter

Just a note on the passing of Jack Kemp, a good and decent man - the kind of opposition figure we would be lucky to have running the Republican party these days (instead of the frightening crowd that has taken over).

Kemp's politics/policies weren't something I could find much agreement with -- he was one of the original supply-sider/ tax-cutter folks who typified the "Reagan revolution."

But despite his ideological differences with most of us, we should remember that Kemp was a thoughtful politicians, whose honestly held policy positions were based on sincerely held ideas, who actually thought through and argued for the potential impact of his proposals.

He was also thoroughly pragmatic in thinking of solutions -- for example, his leadership on the idea of "enterprise zones" for economically depressed inner city communities was certainly based on an ideological commitment to private enterprise as the driver of opportunity -- but he was also willing to embrace an aggressive government involvement that included grants and tax benefits, job training, property transfers, and similar incentives. Perhaps most importantly, he was motivated by honest concern for the decline of economic opportunity in large cities (including his own Buffalo) and the search for practical answers - both for the white working class constituency he represented and communities of colour who were also left behind.

Jack Kemp was troubled by and outspoken on the Republican failure to be a racially inclusive party. Reporters often attributed his attention to racial issues to the time he spent playing football - where he learned to operate in a racially mixed environment in a way most Republican (or Democratic) politicians rarely do. He understood that attracting African-American voters would not simply be a question of more "outreach" but rather of actually addressing the concerns of the African-American communities (jobs, equal opportunities, education, etc), as well as not using racially charged campaign tactics to woo southern whites. But his arguments for doing so were never adopted by the Republicans.

I don't want to idolize Jack Kemp -- I'm glad he wasn't elected VP or eventually President, and his policies were largely bad for the country. He was a conservative Republican in every sense of the word, not one of those New England moderates like Jim Jeffords or Ed Brooke who we can easily relate to. But I can't help but think that in these days of a Republican party of the likes of Sarah Palin, Eric Cantor, Michelle Bachman, Rush Limbaugh, Mitch McConnell, and Joe the Plumber, the country would be much better served if we had an opposition that was composed more of folks like Jack Kemp.

Specter said on MTP that he is against a public health care option. Consequently, he must be defeated.

As we boil over about faithless Specter's equivocations, let's bear in mind that he wants to not further infuriate any Republicans who have supported him and might again, and please note Gregory kind of pushed him into taking the unfortunate position:

GREGORY: Back in April of this year on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" you said this: "So I'm trying to bring back those voters to the Republican Party. We need balance and I'm trying to get people to register Republican. We need a second party. Look here, our country is built on checks and balances. The only check and balance in America today are the 41 Republican Senators who can talk and filibuster, otherwise, the White House, the House of Representatives will be a steamroller." Well, Senator, you've now decided to join that steamroller. What changed? http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30535930/page/2/

Anyhow, it's interesting how he's got nowhere to really go now. He can't gracefully go back to being a Republican, and if the Democrats stick him with a serious primary, he's just going to have to ride that out.

Hey Sen. Hatch do you mean activist judges like the ones who elected Bush in 2000.