Arlen Specter Overboard!

Arlen Specter has become the latest Republican to jump ship over the change in the party in the last several years. Suddenly, he has gone from being a Republican to being a Democrat.

Really?

And the Dems just welcomed him like the prodigal son.

REEEEEEEEallly.

Look, guys... I understand that the party has let you down. Really I do. As an independent, I have not been able to vote Republican with a clear conscience in about fifteen years. And as I wrote in an earlier post, the party seems determined to move farther to the right instead of booting the snake-handlers and coming back toward the center. But the solution to this is NOT to switch from one of the extreme parties to the other.

There's a lot that I like about Joe Lieberman. One of these things is that, when he felt as though his party (the Democrats) was moving in a direction that he didn't want to go, he left the party. But he didn't switch sides. Recognizing that the Republicans would be even further from what he wanted than the new Dems.

So here's my advice to moderate Republicans... don't switch to the Democrats or simply surrender your seat as some have. Instead, get together and form a NEW party – one that is more in line with what you (and I) believe that the Republican party SHOULD stand for. Or, like Bob Barr, follow your heart into the Libertarian party.

One of the reasons that this move by Specter... well... pisses me off is because I have tried for years to convince non-voters that there ARE differences between the parties. This was especially difficult under Bill Clinton, the most Republican president that we've ever had who was supposedly a Democrat. President Clinton was so far up big business' ass that he could see out of their eyes. And now all of this boat-jumping by Republicans has really served to undermine that. Frankly, it makes me question my own belief that there is any difference between the two parties. Maybe the time has come to just end the partisan system altogether. If it's so easy for these (I guess) “former” Republicans to switch to the Democratic side without feeling as if they're betraying their core beliefs, then there really ARE no differences between the parties.

Peace.

Randal