That was probably the deal that was made when Specter switched, and voted for HCR as part of his side of the bargain, etc. I have this intuition that Specter is more interested in political survival than ideology. He is a very practical man.
Nah, he was always decidedly left of center for the GOP. And as the GOP has steadily moved further and further right, it was a race between retirement and him leaving the party.
Ya, that is Specter's side of the story I admit. Color me cynical. The ironic thing in any event as to timing, is that the next Senate will have more moderate GOP Senators.
Eh, maybe. Its hard to say exactly how moderate Hoeven will be. Castle will be moderate, but Voinovich is leaving. I don't think Kirk will win when its all set and done.
However, keep in mind the PA Republican electorate became much more conservative. Specter's strongest base was moderates in suburban Philadelphia. The Party registration changes in Montgomery, Bucks, Delaware and Chester counties were simply immense. Specter's old school moderate suburban base simply left the party in droves.
Exactly. Don't get me wrong, Torie; I have no doubt that Specter would've stayed a Republican if he thought he would beat Toomey in the primary. But as Smash pointed out his base switched en masse to the Democrats, so why wouldn't he also?
Perhaps it would have been more accurate to say the last 30 years were a race between whether Specter's retirement and the GOP leaving
him rather than the other way around. And in 2010 the inevitable rightward march of the Republican Party finally won.
