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Specter To Switch Parties — UPDATED, 2:10 p.m. Continue following the story here. — Original Post — Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter will switch his party affiliation from Republican to Democrat and announced today that he will run in 2010 as a Democrat, according to a statement he released this morning.
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Statement by Senator Arlen Specter — I have been a Republican since 1966. I have been working extremely hard for the Party, for its candidates and for the ideals of a Republican Party whose tent is big enough to welcome diverse points of view. While I have been comfortable being a Republican, my Party has not defined who I am.
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Two Republicans blame conservatives — Two leading Republicans say Sen. Arlen Specter's decision to become a Democrat highlights the hostility moderates feel from an increasingly conservative GOP. — “You haven't certainly heard warm encouraging words about how [the GOP] views moderates …
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Specter: ‘The disappointment runs in both directions’ — WASHINGTON (CNN) — Veteran Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter said Tuesday that he switched from the Republican to the Democratic Party. — “I know I'm disappointing many of my colleagues,” he said at a news conference.
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, JONATHAN TURLEY, The Daily Dish, Daniel W. Drezner and Democratic Strategist
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Specter switching parties — A source involved in the talks confirms that Senator Arlen Specter will switch to the Democratic Party, a dramatic move putting the Democrats within reach of two votes in the Senate. — The move stands to put the White House's agenda on a fast-track …
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The Swamp, The Huffington Post, Upturned Earth, Buck Naked Politics, Politicker NY and The Sundries Shack
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Unprincipled Hack (D-PA) — When a politician switches parties, it's customary for the party he's abandoned to denounce him as an unprincipled hack, and the party he's joined to praise him as a brave convert who's genuinely seen the light. But I think it's pretty clear that Specter is an unprincipled hack.
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Specter Switches Parties — Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania said on Tuesday he would switch to the Democratic party, presenting Democrats with a possible 60th vote and the power to break Senate filibusters as they try to advance the Obama administration's new agenda.
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Specter move caught GOP leaders by surprise — Senate Republican leaders said they had received no heads-up from Sen. Arlen Specter (Pa.) about his decision to leave the Republican Party and run for reelection as a Democrat. — Specter told Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) …
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Snowe: GOP Has Abandoned Principles; Specter Switch “Devastating” — Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine, one of the few remaining moderate Republicans in the Senate, said Tuesday that Arlen Specter's abandonment of the GOP is “devastating,” both “personally and I think for the party.”
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Specter: I'm not an automatic 60th vote — Arlen Specter has crushed Republican spirits while causing Democrats to rejoice, but his stunning party switch came with a warning label: The Obama agenda isn't suddenly a slam dunk just because he's a Democrat now. — “I will not be an automatic 60th vote,” Specter said Tuesday afternoon.
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Arlen Specter Switching Parties Today — HUMAN EVENTS has learned from staff sources that Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa) is about to announce his switch to the Democratic Party. — Specter, a five-term Republican and ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, is facing …
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Snowe calls Specter move ‘devastating’ — WASHINGTON (CNN) - Sen. Olympia Snowe — one of the three moderate Republicans including Arlen Specter who supported President Obama's stimulus package — told CNN Tuesday that she has also been approached many times about becoming a Democrat, but that it hasn't happened for a while.
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Why Specter Did It — And Had To Do It — So why exactly has Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA D-PA) switched parties? — It really comes down to electability — specifically electability as a Republican. Specter's own statement acknowledged that his support for the stimulus bill has made his position untenable with the GOP:
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Another Triumph for the Club for Growth — With Arlen Specter's defection, all that stands between the Democrats and a 60-seat Senate majority are Norman Coleman's lawyers. I wish them every success - but they have not exactly been on an winning streak to date.
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Did DeMint's endorsement of Toomey set off Specter?
Discussion:
Eschaton
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What Specter's switch says about him, the Democrats and our political spectrum
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Arlen Specter makes it official; Flashback: Specter's denial
Discussion:
DownWithTyranny!
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Steele: Specter move not ‘based on principles of any kind’
Discussion:
On Deadline
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CNN's Rick Sanchez calls out DeMint's vapid talking point …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly
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Memo to GOP: Seat Franken or we'll keep Specter's committee seats
Discussion:
AMERICAblog News
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Specter and EFCA — Grover Norquist tells the Washington Independent …
Discussion:
The Washington Independent
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Despite Reports, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed Was Not Waterboarded 183 Times — The number of times Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was waterboarded was the focus of major media attention — and highly misleading. — FOXNews.com — The New York Times reported last week that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed …
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Brian Ross spread the same falsehoods about the Khalid Sheik Mohammed interrogation
Discussion:
The Daily Dish, The Washington Independent, The New Republic, New York Times and Democrats.com
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Bachmann: ‘Interesting coincidence’ that Dems in power during swine flu outbreak — Rep. Michele Bachmann came up with another doozy during her interview Monday with Pajamas TV. Does anyone think it's “interesting” that the last time we saw swine flu was during another Democratic president?
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Two L.A. County deaths possibly related to swine flu, coroner says [Updated]
Discussion:
Clusterstock
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News7 Poll: Terry McAuliffe holds double digit lead over Brian Moran & Creigh Deeds — A new poll gives Terry McAuliffe a double digit lead over Brian Moran and Creigh Deeds, his Democratic rivals for Governor. — But a majority of likely Democratic voters who responded to the News7 SurveyUSA poll …
Discussion:
Blue Virginia
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Major defeat for Bush/Obama position on secrecy — The first sign that the Obama DOJ would replicate many of the worst and most radical arguments of the Bush DOJ was in the Jeppesen case, a lawsuit brought by five victims of the CIA's rendition and torture program (including Binyam Mohamed).
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