Word: republican
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Looming in the background of last November’s presidential election was the possibility that the Democrats in the Senate could reach the magic number: By holding 60 seats in the Senate, they could overcome Republican filibusters and push through a liberal agenda without significant interference from their more conservative colleagues. But the Democrats fell just short, and, for Obama’s first 100 days, the president was forced to settle for a considerable but not filibuster-proof majority. Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania changed that, though, when he announced on Tuesday morning that he would defect...
...primary challenge in question would have come from former Representative Pat Toomey, now the frontrunner for the Pennsylvania Republican senatorial nomination in 2010. Many believe that Toomey, who led Club for Growth, a political action committee for the advancement of fiscal conservatives, is more fiscally and socially conservative than Specter, who often votes with the Democrats, especially on abortion, immigration and the environment. Specter successfully defended his post against Toomey in 2004, but his frantic party switch indicates he feared losing the rematch next year...
...disturbing that Specter, one of the few moderate Republicans left in the Senate, would rather abandon the Republican Party than take his chances against a more conservative primary opponent. As the Republican Party shifts further away from center, Specter’s defection shows that being a successful Republican means moving toward political extremes, while being a moderate Republican means imminent unemployment. More importantly, it shows that the GOP is either drifting right on purpose or is just powerless to stop itself. Specter’s close defeat of Toomey in 2004 was likely thanks to a late endorsement from...
When I supported the stimulus package, I knew that it would not be popular with the Republican Party. But, I saw the stimulus as necessary to lessen the risk of a far more serious recession than we are now experiencing...
Since then, I have traveled the State, talked to Republican leaders and office-holders and my supporters and I have carefully examined public opinion. It has become clear to me that the stimulus vote caused a schism which makes our differences irreconcilable. On this state of the record, I am unwilling to have my twenty-nine year Senate record judged by the Pennsylvania Republican primary electorate. I have not represented the Republican Party. I have represented the people of Pennsylvania...