Holy. F'ing. COW.
Has everybody heard this today?
I have never been a big fan of Specter's; but I've always respected his ability to vote his conscience on issues that mattered to him instead of toeing the party line. To gauge his own beliefs, look around at one's party, and say, "Oh, hell, these guys are WAY too far right for me", offer to return campaign contributions, and frankly, in PA, really put your neck and your seat on the line-- you know how the saying goes; PA is Philadelphia on one end, Pittsburgh on the other, and Alabama in the middle. (I've also heard Kentucky; but having spent a considerable amount of growing up in alabama, that's what sticks) You look at a political breakdown, and you see the Urban Archipelago really clearly in PA; two big blue splotches and a sea of red.
Anyway, this also makes him the 59th(?) dem in the senate, while not a hard-line party voter, it's still a big fucking deal.
I have never been a big fan of Specter's; but I've always respected his ability to vote his conscience on issues that mattered to him instead of toeing the party line. To gauge his own beliefs, look around at one's party, and say, "Oh, hell, these guys are WAY too far right for me", offer to return campaign contributions, and frankly, in PA, really put your neck and your seat on the line-- you know how the saying goes; PA is Philadelphia on one end, Pittsburgh on the other, and Alabama in the middle. (I've also heard Kentucky; but having spent a considerable amount of growing up in alabama, that's what sticks) You look at a political breakdown, and you see the Urban Archipelago really clearly in PA; two big blue splotches and a sea of red.
Anyway, this also makes him the 59th(?) dem in the senate, while not a hard-line party voter, it's still a big fucking deal.