Not to spend too much time on this Arlen Specter business, but I thought it was worth commenting on Bill Kristol’s insane take on Specter’s switch to the Democratic Party. Here’s a taste:
Similarly and contrarianly, I wonder if today’s Arlen Specter party switch, this time to the president’s party, won’t end up being bad for President Obama and the Democrats. With the likely seating of Al Franken from Minnesota, Democrats will have 60 seats in the Senate, giving Obama unambiguous governing majorities in both bodies. He’ll be responsible for everything. GOP obstructionism will go away as an issue, and Democratic defections will become the constant worry and story line. This will make it easier for GOP candidates in 2010 to ask to be elected to help restore some checks and balance in Washington — and, meanwhile, Specter’s party change won’t likely have made much difference in getting key legislation passed or not. So, losing Specter may help produce greater GOP gains in November 2010, and a brighter Republican future.
I’ve always known that Kristol was a dishonest hack, but I didn’t realize that he was also in denial about the GOP’s utter failure as a viable national party. In theory the Republican Party should be in very good shape; after all, as a center-right party of the country’s dominant religio-ethnic groups, it both has the support of the business community and benefit of standing on the side of “tradition.” The Democratic Party (and the left especially), by contrast, shouldn’t have very many opportunities to implement its agenda; its natural constituency – minorities, poor whites and other marginalized communities – isn’t large enough to carry a national candidate to victory. Indeed, you can even make the (strong) case that this is what happened for most of the 20th century; the nation’s agenda was controlled by a “party” of racially conservative southern Democrats and their moderate and conservative allies in the Republican Party.
In a rational political world, Specter would be the poster boy for a GOP which relied on the votes of socially conservative working class whites, middle class whites, and wealthy business owners. The fact that Specter can represent core conservative constituencies and still not have a place in the GOP should be deeply troubling for everyone invested in ensuring that the Republican Party has a place in American politics.
The need for a party for actual right of center moderates has never been more apparent for ppl of that persuasion.