Quote Originally Posted by GeneralHankerchief View Post
I doubt this will change much, TBH. Specter was always an independently-minded guy, and every Senator has his own individual motivations. If the House, being much more structured, had the filibuster limit, this would be a lot different of a story, but I think that we can still expect all the Senators to do their own things.
I'm inclined to agree.

WHY is this a surprise, Lemur? Arlen Specter has always been one of those Republicans that when he spoke, I had to wonder... what the heck are you doing with the Republicans? Back when the GOP had more moderate voices, I didn't question it. But now... all the Republican moderates are gone. It's the party of Bush, Cheney, Palin, Jindal, Steele, and Limbaugh. You question these neo-con masters and you're suddenly a traitor to the values of the GOP. There's no room in the ever shrinking "BIG TENT" for dissenting opinion and honest disagreement. You toe the line or you get tossed out by the party leadership, as Steele was hoping would happen with Specter.

The Republicans have been opposing Specter for years, more and more each year. The Democratic party put up with Joe Lieberman for far longer than they should have because they seem to be more welcoming of opposing ideas. To me, the Democratic party is much more of a coalition of various smaller parties and minority groups that they have to learn to work together; the Republican party has become progressively (ironic word) more conservative and more homogenized. The recent faces of the Republican party seem to be an attempt to hide the fact that it seems to be a party of middle-aged white men and young evangelicals only.

Frankly, this is a political world and the Republicans had been opposing Specter for quite a while. Why they acted surprised when he left the party is beyond me. People are leaving that party in droves, and until the leadership changes, so have I.