Should Specter have gone Ind over Dem?

[King]

I think so.  He's probably going to get primaried on the Democratic side like he would've on the Republican side.  As an Ind, he'd have been able to secure whatever PA fanbase he had and wouldn't have needed as much of the vote in a 3-way race.

[bgwah]

From what I understand, PA's election system isn't terribly friendly to independent candidates. And he would certainly lose running as an independent, I think. He probably has a better chance in a Democratic primary.

[TeePee4Prez]

In as much as PA isn't "indie friendly", I will say it's probably his only route to a General Election.  Ross Perot didn't exactly do so bad here.

[bgwah]

In as much as PA isn't "indie friendly", I will say it's probably his only route to a General Election.  Ross Perot didn't exactly do so bad here.

No, I meant like, getting on the ballot etc. I mean comon, your 2006 Senate race had two of the most terrible and worthless people from each major party running against each other, and there were no indies or third party candidates.

Although Specter would have certainly been able to get on the ballot as an Independent, I imagine.

[minionofmidas]

He ought to have just given up all hope of retaining his Senate seat.

His only objective, then, ought to have been to do as much damage to Toomey as possible. Hence, he should have stayed in the race to the end, then endorsed Toomey's Democratic opponent without leaving the Republican caucus.

[Lunar]

PA is a machine politics state, it's not a normal state where that could work, you don't win by running as an Independent.  You would have no campaign infrastructure to work with.

[Keystone Phil]

No, no and no.

As others said, running as an Independent would have officially ended him. He really screwed this all up and some of us are loving every minute of it.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Absolutely.  He would've had a much better shot at being reelected.

[Keystone Phil]

Absolutely.  He would've had a much better shot at being reelected.

Are you serious? Do you not listen to the obvious conditions that would doom Specter?

Specter has a following but to run as an Independent, you need way more signatures to even get on the ballot. Specter doesn't have that many people - totally independent of political allegiances - that would work to get him those signatures. His fundraising abilities as an Independent would be greatly diminished, too.

[Lunar]

Absolutely.  He would've had a much better shot at being reelected.

sigh,

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Moderate Heroism prizes non-partisanship over basic facts.

[© tweed]

Moderate Heroism prizes non-partisanship over basic facts.

and, apparently, over reading

[Purple State]

No, but he managed to royally screw up (thus far) his switch from R to D. He has basically guaranteed a primary challenge.

[Magic 8-Ball]

What good would that have done?  As has been stated before, his chances of being reelected in a machine state would be nil without some party to lean on.  Granted, pissing off his new party doesn't help either.

[Old Man Willow]

MoveOn and all of the other slime trying to primary him are self destructive. This is PA, not VT. Specter fits perfectly here, and trying to replace him is risky. Anyway, he said he wasn't going to be a lockstep Democrat.

[Lunar]

MoveOn and all of the other slime trying to primary him are self destructive. This is PA, not VT. Specter fits perfectly here, and trying to replace him is risky. Anyway, he said he wasn't going to be a lockstep Democrat.

Sestak is hardly Bernie Sanders or Ned Lamont.

The question is whether he'll be a Democrat on the procedural issues and the few instrumental things that might come down to a 60 person cloture vote (health care, Dawn Johnsen, etc).  No one expects him to be a lockstep Democrat, but we do expect him to vote like one on partisan procedural issues that voters don't care about.

[HAnnA MArin County]

Well obviously Arlen Specter looked at the polls and saw that he couldn't win as a Republican, which left him one of three options: 1) retire, 2) run as a Democrat, 3) run as an Independent or third-party candidate (maybe a Libertarian?). Given that Pennsylvania is a fairly blue state, he made the right choice. But I personally would have liked to have seen him run as an Independent, simply because it would have divided the Republican Party electorate into the neoconservative right-wing nut jobs (who would have obviously voted for Pat Toomey) and the more moderate/independent GOP people/and those who happen to like Specter. This would have been the best case scenario because then Democrats would have been able to put up a REAL Democrat (not to sound like Sarah Palin right there ew:P) like Joe Sestak or Allyson Schwartz who would have more than likely won the general election because the Democrats would be united around one candidate while the Republicans would be divided between Toomey and Specter. United we stand, divided we fall. If you like Arlen, he made the right choice. If you don't, you can wait and hope that he loses a Democratic primary or even the general election. Should be quite interesting to say the least.

[Keystone Phil]

(maybe a Libertarian?).

After the Stimulus and bailout votes? 

[Lunar]

(maybe a Libertarian?).

After the Stimulus and bailout votes? 

He'd probably lose the nomination, hahahaha

[Purple State]

Considering the only person's interests he has at heart are his own, he should have stayed a Republican.  However low his chances were, they were higher in the Republican primary than they are anywhere else.

With the right voting record over the next year, his chances are much higher in a Democratic primary than they could ever be in the Republican primary.

[minionofmidas]

Considering the only person's interests he has at heart are his own, he should have stayed a Republican.  However low his chances were, they were higher in the Republican primary than they are anywhere else.

With the right voting record over the next year, his chances are much higher in a Democratic primary than they could ever be in the Republican primary.

Maybe, but I can't see the damage of switching parties so blatantly for self-interest being overcome.  I'll be shocked if either party takes him seriously anymore.  We shall see.

It's all relative - the Republican primary was for all purposes lost (dead girl or black boy scenarios excluded)