The Party Changed

MCT

The following editorial appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer  Wednesday, April 29:

   Sen. Arlen Specter's decision to switch parties is more about the shifting sands of his political survival than a sudden embrace of Democratic principles.

   Specter's surprise announcement yesterday that he's leaving the Republican Party after four decades is an admission he can't beat conservative challenger Pat Toomey in Pennsylvania's closed GOP primary next year.

   So he's decided to take his chances as a Democrat.

   But the irascibly independent Specter hasn't changed. One of the first things he did after embracing the Democratic Party was to reaffirm that he will vote with Republicans on a key labor issue. That's the Specter whom Pennsylvanians know well.

   Over the course of a Senate career that began in 1980, Specter has always been more of an independent than either a Republican or a Democrat. It's a role he has played to near perfection, gaining power and influence to become the state's longest-serving senator.

   But it's difficult to win an election in Pennsylvania without a party affiliation, hence this move. Though Specter hasn't changed, the Republican Party did. It has become smaller, more conservative and less influential.

   During last year's presidential campaign, about 200,000 Pennsylvania Republicans switched their party registration to Democratic. Those moderate Republican voters were Specter's bread and butter at election time, especially in the Philadelphia suburbs.

   The GOP is more conservative, and conservatives are furious over Specter's vote in February for President Obama's $787 billion recession-fighting plan. Combine that with the candidacy of Toomey, who nearly beat Specter in 2004, and Specter saw the prospects in his own polling late last week: "bleak."

   It remains to be seen whether this new union will be a better fit. Specter is joining a Democratic Party that's more liberal than it was a decade ago.

   Democrats who gleefully count Specter as the 60th vote against Republican filibusters are likely to be disappointed. The only thing automatic about Specter is that he's never automatic.

   Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky tried to spin Specter's defection as a story unique to Pennsylvania. But the purging of moderates from the GOP is not unique to the Keystone State. It has been happening from New England to the Southwest.

   In the past two elections, a handful of House and Senate Republicans have lost in GOP primaries or in the general election after facing expensive primary battles against conservative challengers. "They 1/8conservatives3/8 don't make any bones about losing the general election, if they can purify the party," Specter said.

   Sooner or later, the dwindling GOP needs to address its relevancy on the national stage.

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