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Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
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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PoliticsPA:
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.
Discussion:
The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, The Hill, Young Philly Politics, Time, MyDD, CNN, The Politico, The Nation, The Plum Line, Weekly Standard, The Daily Dish, In the Right, Newshoggers.com, Betsy's Page, George's Bottom Line, NPR Blogs, Opinion L.A., The Note, Hotline On Call, Macleans.ca and The Swamp
Lisa Lerer / The Politico:
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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William Kristol / PostPartisan:
Good News for Republicans! — On May 24, 2001, I wrote an op-ed for The Post in the wake of Vermont Sen. James Jeffords's party switch. I argued that the switch, which cost Republicans control of the Senate, could well turn out to be good for President Bush.
The New Republic:
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.
Newt Gingrich / Washington Post:
Arlen Specter's Switch — The Post asked politicians, former officials and others about the Pennsylvania senator's defection from the Republican Party. — Former Republican speaker of the House — Arlen Specter's decision to leave the Republican Party in name as he left it in spirit …
Amanda Terkel / Think Progress:
CNN's Rick Sanchez calls out DeMint's vapid talking point: ‘What the hell does that mean?’ — Today, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) appeared on CNN to talk about Sen. Arlen Specter's switch to the Democratic party. Host Rick Sanchez asked DeMint about Specter's statement that the Republican party …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly
The Huffington Post:
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.”
Ramesh Ponnuru / The Corner:
Specter on Jeffords — When Jim Jeffords became an “Independent” in 2001, Specter wasn't happy. He said, “I intend to propose a rule change which would preclude a future recurrence of a Senator's change in parties, in midsession, organizing with the opposition, to cause the upheaval which is now resulting.”
Discussion:
The New Republic
Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
What Specter's switch says about him, the Democrats and our political spectrum — (updated below - Update II) — I just contributed my thoughts on Arlen Specter's party switch to the New York Times' “Room for Debate” segment, so I'll post the link to that once that is available (see Update II) …
The New Majority:Another Triumph for the Club for Growth
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Emily Kaiser / City Pages:
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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Declan McCullagh / CBS News:DHS Sets Guidelines For Possible Swine Flu Quarantines
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Raw Story
Spencer S. Hsu / Washington Post:With Eye on Industry, Ag Secretary Stops Calling Outbreak ‘Swine Flu’
Andrew Blankstein / L.A. Now:Two L.A. County deaths possibly related to swine flu, coroner says [Updated]
WCBS-TV:
FAA Memo: Feds Knew NYC Flyover Would Cause Panic — Threatened Federal Sanctions Against NYPD, Secret Service, FBI & Mayor's Office If Secret Ever Got Out — Furious Obama Apologizes: “It Will Never Happen Again” — CBS News Interactive: Sept. 11 And Since
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Bloomberg:
Obama Orders Review of New York Flight as Cost Put at $328,835 — President Barack Obama ordered a review of a publicity-photo shoot with one of the planes that serves as Air Force One that cost taxpayers $328,835 and caused a furor in New York City. — Obama said he wasn't informed …
JammieWearingFool:
Wonderful: Feds Knew NYC Flyover Would Cause Panic, Proceeded Anyway — One of those rare times I'm in agreement with Chuckie Schumer. … The idea Obama had no knowledge of what was happening with his own plane is nonsense. It's just not plausible. — He deliberately allowed this to happen.
Martin Kady II / The Politico:
Sebelius wins Senate confirmation — Despite a filibuster threat from conservatives upset with her stance on abortion rights, Kathleen Sebelius won easy Senate confirmation to be Barack Obama's Health and Human Services secretary. — The vote was 65-31, with opposition coming mostly …
Discussion:
The Swamp
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Bill Vlasic / New York Times:
Holdouts Jeopardize Debt Plan for Chrysler — DETROIT — The Obama administration is prepared to force Chrysler into bankruptcy by the end of the week unless it gets unanimous consent from a group of banks and hedge funds to retire the automaker's debt. — The Treasury Department has told …
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Joseph Abrams / Fox News:
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 …
Mark Murray / MSNBC:
Poll: Obama gets high marks for first 100 days — NBC/WSJ poll shows Obama's numbers are higher than Bush, Clinton — WASHINGTON - As he enters his 100th day in office, President Barack Obama enjoys higher marks from the American public than his most recent predecessors did at similar points …
Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
Major defeat for Bush/Obama position on secrecy — [updated below (interview with lead counsel Ben Wizner of the ACLU) - Update II] — 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 …
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