Red State: "A lesson for potential turncoats"

Excellent commentary from Red State following Arlen Specter's loss Tuesday in Pennsylvania. It's a simple tale ... he betrayed the Republicans ... the Democrats betrayed him. Got it?

Arlen Specter loses after betraying citizens, GOP, & lining up with Obama

After Arlen Specter lost the Democratic primary in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, I went back through my archives to find the articles I had written about him since his decision last year to leave the GOP.

I still remember when I heard the news the he was jumping what he perceived to be a sinking GOP ship and joined the SS Obama. I was outside planting flowers while listening to Rush Limbaugh on the radio.

The SWAC Girl posts about Specter told the story of the next year ...

- Traitor Republicans (2/9/2009) - Specter votes for the stimulus package
- Arrogant politicians ... not listening to the voters (2/10/2009)
- Defeat Arlen Specter in 2010 ... sign the petition (2/12/2009)
- Could this be true? (4/28/2009) - first reports of Specter defecting
- The power of the ring (4/28/2009)
- Benedict Specter ... fair weather friend (4/29/2009)
- GOP donors demand money back from Specter (4/30/2009)
- What did he expect? (5/6/2009) - Democrats yank promised chairmanship
- Town hells? (8/5/2009) - Specter's condescending attitude at townhall
- Katy Abram ... the new voice of the Silent Majority (8/13/2009) - stands up to Specter
- Politico ... "Forecast for Dem primaries: Ugly" (11/23/2009)
- Specter to Bachmann: "Act like a lady" (1/22/2010)
- Ross Mackenzie: Europe shows America's future (5/16/2010)

Now we've come full circle to the defeat of Arlen Specter who, just a year ago, thought he saw the handwriting on the wall and jumped the GOP ship only to find himself squarely in the middle of a hot griddle of citizen unrest and distrust of the very president he lined himself up with.

The Washington Examiner has all the latest on Specter's loss:

- Specter sunk by Pennsylvania Dems by Susan Ferrechio
- Arrividerci, Arlen by Michael Barone
- "Can Specter have his vote on the stimulus back now?" by David Freddoso

What did he expect?

Arlen Specter jumped from the Republican ranks to the Democrat ranks thinking he would keep his committee seniority, supposedly because he had been told so by the Democrats brokering the deal.

Surprise. Life-long Democrats were not happy the new kid on the block was going to take their places and so they complained. As a result, Sen. Specter now finds himself the junior senator from Pennsylvania.

Reportedly, Harry Reid himself promised the seniority ... yet Harry Reid himself read the resolution stripping Specter of that seniority.

Knife in the back....

GOP donors demand money back from Specter

"They gave that money to elect a Republican. They did not give that money to strengthen [Democratic Senate Majority Leader] Harry Reid's majority," NRSC spokesman Brian Walsh said. "I expect a lot of people will be looking to have their money returned."

Uh-oh. One thing politicians never like is having to hand back the money ... and it looks as if Republican turncoat Arlen Specter is going to be returning tens of thousands of dollars demanded by angry Republicans after his switch to the Democrat side of the aisle.

How much is he looking at? A quick glance shows:

$5,000 - Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA)
$5,000 - Lamar Alexander's (R-TN) Tenn PAC
$5,000 - Sen. John Cornyn's (R-TX) Alamo PAC
$5,000 - Sen. Bob Corker's (R-TN) Rock City PAC
$10,000 - Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-K) Bluegrass Committee

One Republican is even demanding that Specter return all campaign donations:

Pennsylvania Republican Party Chairman Robert A. Gleason Jr. isn't satisfied with Mr. Specter returning campaign contributions on request. He wants the senator to return all of his campaign loot voluntarily.

Mr. Gleason told CNN that the new Democrat should "do the right thing and proactively return any and all campaign contributions he has received in recent months to run as a Republican in the upcoming election."

He also wants Mr. Specter to apologize to the state's Republicans for misleading them.

Mr. Specter, long considered among the more liberal Republicans in Congress, said he switched parities in part to avoid a formidable challenge from staunch fiscal conservative Pat Toomey in the Republican primary for the 2010 election.

Specter surveyed the landscape ... saw he couldn't win ... and he defected.

Loyalty ... betrayal ... turncoat ... there aren't even enough adjectives to describe someone like that.

Benedict Specter ... fair weather friend

He betrayed his principles ... he betrayed his team ... he saw the Democrats had the upper hand and decided to save his hide and join them. Many are now calling him Benedict Specter.

Investors Business Daily called it like they saw it:

No one is falling for Specter's hand-wringing rationale that "since my election in 1980, as part of the Reagan Big Tent, the Republican Party has moved far to the right." He was just as uncomfortable with Reaganism back then as he is now, all along relishing his role as RINO — Republican In Name Only — whose vote was up for sale.
...
There has never been a more important time to temper the power being wielded in Washington, never a time when putting country before political ambition was so consequential. The system of economic freedom that built and sustains America is at stake, as are the fortunes of our children and grandchildren.

Thanks to Arlen Specter, that destructive power may now be absolute. Reserve a space for a new addition to history's Rogues' Gallery.

No checks-and-balances ... one Party will rule D.C. ... Benedict Specter....

The power of the ring....

Power. Arlen Specter cannot let go ... self-serving rather than a servant of the people.

"Let us remember that a traitor may betray himself and do good that he does not intend. It can be so, sometimes."

-- Gandalf, "The Siege of Gondor," Lord of the Rings

Could this be true?

Human Events is reporting that Arlen Specter is changing parties today. Could this be true? Apparently ... yes.

Defeat Arlen Specter in 2010

Sign the petition....