U.S. Senator switches parties

[tangaroa]

U.S. Senator Arlen Specter, a Republican for nearly 30 years in the Senate, has switched his party to the Democrats. I recommend the Washington Post's coverage. In short:

• With 60 Senators, the Democrats gain the the potential of preventing filibusters assuming everyone in the party votes the same way
• Specter is likely to keep a high committee position due to his seniority
• If Specter had stayed as a Republican, he was probably going to lose the 2010 election

The Democrats might be the more liberal party in the U.S. but Specter has not gotten any more liberal. He was a fairly conservative senator by pre-Bush standards and he will continue to be one as a Democrat. What happened is that the Republican Party went too far to the right for him. That goes both ways: not only is Specter no longer a fan of what his old party has become, but the party was itching to get rid of him. Polls suggested that Specter would lose the 2010 Republican party primary election to challenger Pat Toomey. Running on a different party's ticket changes the game.