Silver: Specter Will Shift Left, But Not Too Far

Sestak unswayed by recent party switch

(NEWSER) - Geez, what's a guy got to do to win some love from his own political party? Even though Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania switched parties to become a Democrat, he's still going to face a big-name challenger in a party primary. Rep. Joe Sestak told Wolf Blitzer on CNN today that he plans to run. “I don’t think that a D next to your name makes you a Democrat,” he said. “It’s about whether Arlen will fight for the right issues." More»

After rocky beginning, GOP turncoat sticks to new side of aisle

(NEWSER) - Arlen Specter’s first days as a Democrat may not have gone well, but since then he’s settled in and sided with his new party on nearly every vote, Politico reports. He’s gone from staunch opponent of the Employee Free Choice act to a key negotiator for it, come to Nancy Pelosi’s defense against the CIA, and said he’s now open to a public option on health care. More»

But Tom Ridge would be a stiffer challenge if he nabbed GOP nom

(NEWSER) - Arlen Specter beat Pat Toomey 53% to 33% in a Quinnipiac poll of Pennsylvanians’ preferred candidate for US senator. But against Tom Ridge, who may become the Republican candidate, Specter's lead grows more precarious—voters prefer Specter to Ridge by a margin of 46% to 43%, the Quinnipiac poll showed. More»

(NEWSER) - Riding a wave of dissatisfaction with Arlen Specter's vote on the federal stimulus, conservative Pat Toomey will again campaign to be the GOP's Senate nominee in Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Although Toomey didn't announce until today, the two have been arguing publicly in the last few weeks. Specter, who eked out a narrow victory in 2004, even took out TV ads trying to link Toomey to the financial crisis. More»

He regularly thumbed his nose at party-line automatons

(NEWSER) - It's so easy to dislike Arlen Specter, writes Dana Milbank. Let us count the ways: "Ornery, vain, disloyal, and a brazen opportunist." And let's not forget the infamous quote that brings all those characteristics into play: "My change in party will enable me to be reelected." And yet, "I will miss him," Milbank writes at the Washington Post . "Whatever his faults, he fought the forces of party unity and ideological purity that are pulling the country apart." More»