US Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) announced this week that he was switching political parties. Initially he said that he was doing so because he didn't want to be "judged by the Pennsylvania Republican primary electorate," the same electorate he courted in his last election. But later, after he realized his statement depicted him as an ungrateful political opportunist, he said his decision was based on the idea that the Republican Party – which has moved more to the center in recent years – has “moved too far to the Right.” The truth is that Specter is a political opportunist who has literally thrown his constituency under the bus just to save his political career. In the political sense, he is a traitor.
The element of surprise surrounding this announcement comes in that he chose a time when the Republican Party can least afford to lose even one from their ranks. With anti-American, neo-Marxist Al Franken likely to be seated as the junior senator from Minnesota and the two Independent senators, Joseph Lieberman (CT) and Bernie Sanders (VT), voting with Democrats on social issues, President Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid have their “last man needed” to advance social programs that will redefine the authority of the American government and literally cripple the economy. Arlen Specter has handed Barack Obama the total of his agenda for at least the next two years and there isn't a damn thing the Republicans can do about it.
In Specter's formal announcement – in other words, after Specter's political spin doctors crafted an excuse for his narcissistic, self-serving party switch – he said:
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Frank Salvato also serves as the managing editor for The New Media Journal. His writing has been recognized by the US House International Relations Committee and the Japan Center for Conflict Prevention.
