In 1980, Arlen Specter switched to the Republican party to run for the Senate and was elected on the coattails of Ronald Reagan’s historical landslide victory. Today, after polls showed he would be soundly defeated in next year’s primary largely due to his being the deciding vote to saddle future generations with trillions of dollars of debt to pay for services now, “Snortin Porkin” Arlen flew the short hop back to the big government liberal Democrats. It paves the way for two showdowns next year, first between real conservatives like Pat Toomey and Peg Ludsik, and then on to victory over Senator Specter (D-PA).
Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) spent a few moments on the show with Mark Levin tonight discussing what conservatives need to do to build the Republican Party back into one that represents the American people:
Aiding and abetting the Democrats by going along (with ever expanding government) to get along threatens our liberty, free market system that made America great, and financial ability to defend our nation.
During the ‘next steps’ Tea Party organization meeting I attended tonight (in Pennsylvania), we unanimously agreed to demand a return to responsible, limited government of all future candidates and for an explanation from them of how what they propose is Constitutional.
Hannity looks nicer in person
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Spector is now the epicenter of republican outrage, not just from brash conservatives influencing moderates as other left leaning senators are certain to proclaim but because he is fiscally derelict and the public sees it. Collins, Snowe and Graham are lucky that they are sufficiently distanced from re-election to secure their immediate future but McCain is in the crosshairs. Hagal, Chaffe, Warner and DeWine are already defeated or left office so the party is now better defined on principles instead of personal politics. Spector was about to lose because he can’t be differentiated from a liberal in Pennsylvania and that is all there is to it. So now he runs as the liberal that he always was and by changing his affiliation he is supposed to improve his chances? I don’t think so.
McCain, the foot soldier with two left feet in the Reagan revolution, could have also changed his party since he once nearly did so for presidential aspirations. I suspect that in the coming months ahead both he and Spector will further beat up the party, McCain from the inside and Spector from the outside so as to justify their history of reckless pandering and worthless bipartisanship. What part of Spector’s bipartisanship shaped the stimulus bill? Who compromised on McCain/Feingold? They both equally compromised the First Amendment.
Unfortunately, pain and negative experiences are still the best teachers and this country has now set the stage for the most momentous learning experience that I have witnessed in my lifetime. The public is outraged, they are learning fast and are very concerned. The biggest problem that normal leadership (conservative) faces is whether the liberal criminal left can steal, dilute, overrun or deny the vote to what used to be the that great swath of American voters who understood, believed in and lived by our founding American principles. To the extent that it has made us so successful we now seem to have forgotten how we got here and that is not unlike a successful fisherman who, incredibly, one day forgets where the water is.
To be honest, I’m not sure I follow what DeMint was saying regarding Lindsey Graham. Seems like he was trying NOT to criticize Graham. Did anyone else get that impression?
What I noted was DeMint did not disagree with Mark about “Goober” Graham. Even if he did not name him, what DeMint said last night disagrees with what Graham said yesterday.
Of course. They are from the same party and the same state and, although Graham is not fiscally reckless as those that voted for the massive stimulus bill to grow government he is trying to head off criticism because he is John McCain’s buddy and suffers from an indistinguishable voting record that puts him at odds with conservative DeMint but neither of the two can afford to have a public confrontation to feed a media fest so they side swipe each other on principles and how to grow the party. It is not difficult to read between the lines. Grahm and McCain were right on the stimulus and Spector was wrong. Grahm and McCain and other so-called moderates were wrong on immigration and they also contributed to the gang of 14. Such behavior simply cannot be part of the big-tent concept because it snipes at bed-rock core conservative principles. If you want to discuss the party of intolerance just look how a far left leaning liberal such as Lieberman was treated simply because of his Iraq stance. How many pro-lifers in the anomalous liberal big-tent party of inclusiveness? Gram is an odd hybrid that seems better fit to run as the governor of CA which needs fiscal discipline but supports the Cap & Trade CO2 model and has a suicidal immigration social conscience. The problem is that such compromise always fails. What he accomplishes one way he undoes in another and that goes for any other mix of conservatism and liberalism.
DeMInt and Grahm were forced to comment by circumstances brought about by Spector so they stood behind their beliefs, each affording their own interpretation and perspective but with party damage control in mind. Spector is another species altogether. We always had to give him something. Some Americans would commit suicide for this country while Spector would have the country commit suicide for him. It is about him and only him and just like the liberal left he is concerned with his future and not the future of the country. He likes the Senate and all of the trappings because he is a lonely old man that needs the collegiate atmosphere the Senate affords; he has no intention in giving up his club membership. He is an outstanding example of why we need term limits.