What if Arlen Specter isn't an opportunist... what if he's sacrificing himself for The GOP?

[Ian David]

What if he wants to run as a Democrat in the General Election and WANTS to LOSE to Tom Ridge?

[onenote]

1. What if Arlen Specter is really from an alien planet and hopes to colonize

earth as a source of food?

[Journeyman]

5. Ask him if his purpose is "To Serve Man". . .

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Serve_Man_(The_Twilight_Zone)

[babylonsister]

2. What if he just ran against Toomey and lost? nt

[havocmom]

3. Been wondering what happens when he doesn't show DEMs loyality

and (if) Obama does NOT campaign for him as a result. Does the GOP use that to campaign against Obama, using the meme that he broke his work to Specter? THAT is what I wonder.

[msongs]

4. what if he joins dems and votes NO on everything...oh wait, that is not a what if nt

[billyoc]

6. It's possible. Ridge wouldn't vote much different than Specter, though.

It wouldn't give the R's a majority in the Senate, so it wouldn't be a very noble sacrifice on Specter's part.

[LynneSin]

11. I love the irony of it

The only way they could feasibly defeat Specter now is to run someone whose ideology closely mirrors Specter and NOT the hardcore right-wing GOP group that chased Specter out of the party.

Of course Ridge would still have to beat Pat Toomey in a closed GOP primary. When it's republican-only there are enough right-wing whackos in Pennsylvania to give someone like Pat Toomey the victory but with 1.2million edge in voter registration - not enough for a win in the general election.

Republicans have to decide if they want to keep the seat or keep the ideology pure. If Pennsylvania ends up with Ridge it would be no different then having Specter - both are pro-choice, pro-labor, pro-environment republicans.

[WeDidIt]

7. When speaking of politicians, never attribute to altruistic loyalty

what can easily be explained by greedy egotism.

[Ian David]

8. Ahh... you're applying Arlen's Razor. n/t

[WeDidIt]

9. Yep

and Arlen is as greedy and egotistical as they come.

[LynneSin]

10. Tom Ridge still has to beat Pat Toomey, which is still a challenge in a closed GOP primary

And Ridge is too moderate, much like Arlen Specter.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

12. ASSUMING that Ridge is capable of getting the nod

If Toomey was in a position to defeat Specter in the primary, presumably because Specter was considered to be too moderate for the Pennsylvania GOP, Ridge shouldn't be able to do much better in the primary since he is quite moderate himself. If he wins, yeah, that might cause some problems for Specter, particularly because both are pretty similar and it's anybody's guess how the election might play out then. I wonder if the RNC is going to try to knock off Toomey now and throw their weight behind Ridge instead?

As for Specter, I don't think that he "took one for the team" (I can't really see how his switchover benefits the GOP- now or later). I think that Specter simply got freaked out by Toomey's strong showing in the polls and the "specter" of his loss in the 2010 GOP Primary and saw switching parties- with the promise of being supported by the Democratic establishment- as the best (only?) way for him to win re-election in 2010. Hopefully, we'll be getting something pretty good from him in return for our patronage. So far, I haven't been that impressed and if he doesn't get much better than he has been this past week, I hope he gets successfully primaried.

[LeftishBrit]

13. Seems a bit unlikely to me

Sounds like he wants a job for life, and like many a rat, is leaving the sinking ship.

Also at least over here, there is nothing that a politician resents more than to lose to a member of their *own* party (seen as a far greater outrage than a defeat from the opposition); and they may do very interesting things to avoid it or avenge it. I could unfold a few tales from Britain, especially in the 70s and 80s.

[Kansas Wyatt]

14. Democrats in Pennsylvania need to nominate...

The Democrat that was going to run against the Republican, and ignore Specter completely.

I wouldn't trust him any further than I could piss, and I certainly would NEVER count on his vote.

[LynneSin]

15. The PA Dems were in on helping Specter switch

I highly doubt that the Sestak 'threats' of running are anything more than the Dems saying "you fuck us over and we'll run Sestak against you".

I strongly suspect that any democrat that runs against Specter is going to be a no-name with lil support within the party. On the bright side - how many years does Specter have left? The guy has been treated for cancer twice, in his 80s and could very well pass away mid-way thru his term. Perhaps then we could see Sestak appointed to fill out the position.

And something else, let's just say that we get a democrat to beat Specter - IF Tom Ridge manages to win his nomination, he would easily beat any democrat not Arlen Specter. Ridge is pretty moderate and has some of the same appeal that allows Specter to win in general elections.