Senate gains Democratic member!

When I saw this headline, I thought it had to be mistaken. But here it comes....

Longtime Republican Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania has just announced that he's switched parties to become a Democrat. This will give the Democrats the magic number of 60 senators - the number they need to avoid Republican filibusters.

Specter has served in the Senate since 1981. Specter, 79, is the third-youngest senator. (Just joking about him being the third-youngest senator.)

This would be much bigger news if the 2 major parties were still that much different from each other - but still I have to report it.

Don't expect Arlen Specter to be a 'Pail populist just because he switched parties. Even so, the Republicans have become too conservative even for him. He was trailing by an astounding margin in a hypothetical GOP primary match-up against right-wing former Rep. Pat Toomey (known for his Club for Greed involvement).

Observers say that you know a party is near the end of its shelf life when it's taken over by the most extreme elements. Specter being driven out of the GOP for not being conservative enough is more evidence that the Republican era is over.

(Source: http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/04/28/specter.party.switch)