Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Shrinking the GOP

The Arlen Specter party switch today is the latest sign of an eight-year process--the shriveling of the Republican Party to a one-size-fits-all collection of conservatives that started in 2001 with Sen. Jim Jeffords leaving and even John McCain flirting with the idea after being splattered by the Rove smear machine in the primaries a year earlier.

Party Chair Michael Steele affirmed the meanness that motivated Specter today by commenting that he “didn’t leave the G.O.P. based on principles of any kind. He left to further his personal political interests because he knew that he was going to lose a Republican primary due to his left-wing voting record. Republicans look forward to beating Senator Specter in 2010, assuming the Democrats don’t do it first.”

Nicely said. Translated, Steele is confirming that Specter's role in crafting a compromise to pass Obama's stimulus bill disqualifies him from the bitter-end party-of-no that is now the Republican brand.

This politically suicidal process cries out for psychiatric intervention, shrinks to stop the GOP from shrinking itself down to Rush Limbaugh and a few office-holding lookalikes.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Why is every one having a kniption fit over Specter? He's only done what I did 1/2 way through Dubya's Reign of Terror. I switched out of the republican to the democratic party once it was clear to Me that they no longer represented me and what I cared about. McCain and others need to switch also and leave the wackos to their Rush, Cheney, Karl and W. The real tragedy here is the republican's refusal to self-analyze and correct their mess-up. They caved in to the neo-cons. Allowed Rush to take over their party with his hate. That party should be called by another name. They are not real republicans. At least not anyone that I can be comfortable with.