Veteran GOP Sen. Specter switches parties.

Veteran GOP Sen. Specter switches parties
The move pushes Democrats closer to total control of the U.S. Senate
NBC News and news services
updated 12:32 p.m. PT, Tues., April 28, 2009


WASHINGTON - Veteran Republican Sen. Arlen Specter disclosed plans Tuesday to switch parties, bringing Democrats closer to the 60-vote supermajority they need to push Barack Obama's agenda through the Senate.

"This is a painful decision," said Specter at a Tuesday afternoon news conference. "I know that I'm disappointing a lot of my friends and colleagues...the disappointment runs in both directions."

Specter would give Democrats and their allies at least 59 Senate seats. One vacancy remains from the state of Minnesota, where Democrat Al Franken holds a narrow lead in a race being disputed in courts.

With 60 votes in the 100-seat chamber, Obama's fellow Democrats would have the three-fifths majority necessary to stop Republican filibusters, a stalling tactic used to delay or defeat legislation.

Under Senate rules, a single senator can object to consideration of a bill, which then requires that 60-vote majority to bring it to the floor or to end debate — therefore allowing a final vote to be taken.

However, there is no guarantee that the Pennsylvania senator will vote with the Democrats on every issue. "I will not be an automatic 60th vote," asserted Specter.

With the presence of moderate Democrats and contested regional issues, the risk of a fractured caucus is always a reality on Capitol Hill.

"In our caucus we don't have any automatic votes for anything," said Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy. "I expect him to be as just as independent as ever."

"Anyone who says the president's agenda can slide right through here is wrong," added New York Sen. Charles Schumer. "But the really good news for us is that the Republican sort of knee-jerk filibuster at every whim cannot happen."

Political philosophy at odds
Specter, 79, a veteran of 29 years in the Senate, has found his party dominated by conservatives and himself becoming one of a handful of Republican moderates remaining among the 535 members of Congress.

"I now find my political philosophy more in line with Democrats than Republicans," Specter said in a statement posted on a Web site devoted to politics in his home state, Pennsylvania, and confirmed by his office.

"It has become clear to me that the stimulus vote caused a schism which makes our differences irreconcilable," he added.

Several officials said the White House as well as leaders in both parties had been involved in discussions leading to his move.

Specter faced an extraordinarily difficult re-election challenge in his home state of Pennsylvania in 2010, having first to confront a challenge from his right in the Republican primary before pivoting to a general election campaign against a Democrat.

The state is mostly Democratic.

"I am unwilling to have my 29-year Senate record judged by the Pennsylvania Republican primary electorate," he said in the statement.

"I don't have to say anything to them. They've said it to me," Specter said, when asked in a Capitol corridor about abandoning the Republicans.

'Threat to the country'
Not long after Specter met privately with Republican senators to explain his decision, the party's leader, Sen. Mitch McConnell, said the switch posed a "threat to the country."

The issue, he said, "really relates to ... whether or not in the United States of America our people want the majority party to have whatever it wants, without restraint, without a check or balance."

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele said in a statement, "Let's be honest — Sen. Specter didn't leave the GOP based on principles of any kind. He left to further his personal political interests because he knew that he was going to lose a Republican primary due to his left-wing voting record."

Texas Sen. John Cornyn, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, called Specter's move, " the height of political self-preservation."

There were kinder words from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid: "I welcome Sen. Specter and his moderate voice to our diverse caucus, and to continuing our open and honest debate about the best way to make life better for the American people."

"Sen. Arlen Specter is one smart senator," added Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va. "He is an independent thinker of the type that the framers of the Constitution had in mind when they conceived the office of U.S. senator."

100 days
Specter's move came a day before Obama' marked 100 days in office.

A senior White House official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because no announcement has yet been made, said Obama was handed a note while in the Oval Office during his daily economic briefing.

The note said: "Specter is announcing he is changing parties." A few minutes later, Obama reached Specter by phone and told him "you have my full support" and that the Democratic Party is "thrilled to have you."

Specter said Obama has promised to campaign for him in next year's Democratic primary.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said the president would be "happy to do it."

Specter had publicly acknowledged that to win in 2010, he would need thousands of Pennsylvania voters who switched from Republican to Democrat last year in order to vote for Obama to now flip back to the Republicans to cast ballots for him.

Powerful panel positions
As one of the most senior Republicans in the Senate, Specter held powerful positions on the Judiciary and Appropriations panels. It was not clear how Democrats would calculate his seniority in assigning committee perches.

Specter has long been an independent Republican, and he proved it most recently when he became one of only three members of the Republican party in Congress to vote for Obama's economic stimulus legislation.

As recently as late winter, he was asked by a reporter why he had not taken Democrats up on past offers to switch parties.

"Because I am a Republican," he said at the time.

But even before Specter announced he was switching parties, he attended a Senate subcommittee hearing on the swine flu outbreak and took a seat on the Democratic side of the dais.

He made no overt mention of his decision, but said, "Sorry I can't stay longer, but this is a complicated day for me."

NBC's Ken Strickland contributed to this report.
© 2009 msnbc.com


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Wifout, Jowel,
Gade yon gwo kokenn chenn zen.

Sasaye,

Pati Repibliken ap vini tankou Pati poutchis yo fas a Lavalas.
Se yon pati rejyonal li vin ye ,se moun lan "deep south" yo lan "sid profon" yo ki vote repibliken.

Si Demokrat yo genyen 60 vwa lan Sena a ,Repibliken yo te mèt mare pakèt yo.Yo ka fè opozisyon lan bouch sèlman.

Se bagay sa a ki ap domine tout medya yo jounnen jodi an .SPECTER ,gwo senatè devan letènèl,di ke se pa limenm ki kite Pati Repibliken an se Pati Repibliken an ki kite l ;pati an vin twò a dwat pou li.[b]

Jowèl,

Sa nèg pa konprann sè ke pati Demokrat ak pati Repibliken genyen yon ideyoloji ak yon filozofi dèyè yo ki montre klèman ki direksyon pou yo pran.
De ideyoloji sayo diametralman opoze.

Nèg lan peyi nou konprann se lan non sèlman diferans lan ye e genyen ki bat lestomak yo pou yo di yo se repibliken. Yo pa konnen ke repiblikanis pa vle wè nwa, ak minorite e yo pa gen tolerans pou moun ki ap eseye emansipe.

Joel a écrit:
Se yon pati rejyonal li vin ye ,se moun lan "deep south" yo lan "sid profon" yo ki vote repibliken.
b]

Menm la yo gen problem, Obama change jwet la. Menm sid la, yo pa'p ka kenbe. Sa ki ta di Virginia t'ap vote pou Obama. Repibliken yo an pèt vitès, e modere lan pati sa wè van vire alos yo oblije akomode yon jan.

Anna

ou fè menm refleksyon ak mwen .maten yan pandan ke map gade nouvel la mwen di Senatè Specter genyen poul ale nan elektyon lane pwochenn wè jan van ap vire li vire ak van an.se konsa pati demokrat la di ke yap soutni li ;yo pap mete yon demokrat an fas li lane pwochenn. kestyon map pose tet mwen eske se yon bon konversyon ou byen eske se taktik yo politisyen madre.Se jan Specter pral vote apre li finn eli lane pwochenn na konnen.fok nou sonje misye di se pa pati ki determine vot li.

AnaCreole a écrit:

Joel a écrit:
Se yon pati rejyonal li vin ye ,se moun lan "deep south" yo lan "sid profon" yo ki vote repibliken.
b]

Menm la yo gen problem, Obama change jwet la. Menm sid la, yo pa'p ka kenbe. Sa ki ta di Virginia t'ap vote pou Obama. Repibliken yo an pèt vitès, e modere lan pati sa wè van vire alos yo oblije akomode yon jan.

Sa ta etone mwen ke Obama ta fè 2 manda.

Eseye koute FOX olie nou chita 24/24 e 7/7 sou television liberal tankou MSNBC ka benyen nou ak manti.

Si ekonomi an amelyore,e gen yon ale mye lan gè yo Repibliken yo ap kontinye pèdi syèj an 2010.
Y ap vini tankou pati ki te rele "whigs" lan, lan ane 1840s yo.Pati sa a te disparèt e iwoni an se te "Pati Repibliken" an ki te ranplase l e Pati Repibliken epòk sa a se te Pati pwogresis lan

Ou koute FOX Colo?
Fox se tankou Radyo Kiskeya ,Metropol ak Vizyon 2000,lan kontèks ayisyen an.
Nèg ki prezidan FOX lan ,se yon ansyen konsiltan pou Pati Repibliken .
Se yon moun ki rele RUPERT MURDOCH ki mèt FOX
Mwen sonje ke te gen yon jounal Nouyòk ki rele New York Post.Mwen te renmen jounal sa a lè mwen te rete Nouyòk.Mwen te konn li l asidiman lan ane 70,80s yo.
Mordoch te vin achte jounal sa a e li te tounen an yon rago iltra-reyaksyonè

Joel a écrit:Si ekonomi an amelyore,e gen yon ale mye lan gè yo Repibliken yo ap kontinye pèdi syèj an 2010.
Y ap vini tankou pati ki te rele "whigs" lan, lan ane 1840s yo.Pati sa a te disparèt e iwoni an se te "Pati Repibliken" an ki te ranplase l e Pati Repibliken epòk sa a se te Pati pwogresis lan

Ou koute FOX Colo?
Fox se tankou Radyo Kiskeya ,Metropol ak Vizyon 2000,lan kontèks ayisyen an.
Nèg ki prezidan FOX lan ,se yon ansyen konsiltan pou Pati Repibliken .
Se yon moun ki rele RUPERT MURDOCH ki mèt FOX
Mwen sonje ke te gen yon jounal Nouyòk ki rele New York Post.Mwen te renmen jounal sa a lè mwen te rete Nouyòk.Mwen te konn li l asidiman lan ane 70,80s yo.
Mordoch te vin achte jounal sa a e li te tounen an yon rago iltra-reyaksyonè

Se pou tande tout tandans yo pou ka fè yon moyenne.

ou pa tande konbyen moun nan Pensylvanie ki chanje pati.sak fè ke Senatè Martinez di li pap chache yon lot manda ankor an Floride?Ki sak fè jeff bush o komansman te di li ap pose kandidati li pou l ranplase Martinez apre li chanje lide?Sak fè Collin Powell vote pou Obama.mwen kwè ke Condelleza Rice vote pou Obama tou.

Yon moun pa ka predi sa ki pral pase nan 4 an men mon chè Repibliken nan move pant wi si se Lambaugh ki ideyolog yo ak Sarah Palin.Nouvel jeneratyon ameriken yo pi edike yo pa pran nan vye pawol konsèvatè.se sak fè Repibliken modere yo ap kouri kite pati ya.