Bennett write-in bid? Okay, I'm mad.

Ousted GOP Senator Utah's Bob Bennett looks like he's pulling a 2010 Charlie Crist, as opposed to a 2009 Arlen Specter. The Hill's Ballot Box reports Bennett is considering a write-in bid. With representatives like these self-serving tools, it's no wonder the GOP lost it's way in the last decade. The idea that their careers are more important than conservative principles is why the GOP lost, it's why they lost personally and yet it's still why they want to return, because to them the choice between country and career is obvious.

The Fruits of Your Health Care Labors

If you are a Republican, and you supported Pelosi's health care plan - wouldn't or shouldn't you have seen THIS coming???



From the AP:

WASHINGTON (AP) - The lone Republican lawmaker to support Democratic health care legislation has seen his fundraising drop by nearly 40 percent since his vote, and he is quickly burning through a dwindling bank account after resorting to a costly national fundraising operation.

Rep. Anh "Joseph" Cao, the unlikely congressman from New Orleans, is facing the perils of bipartisanship unlike any other lawmaker in Washington - trying to please a heavily Democratic constituency while relying on core conservatives for money to fuel his campaign.

As you sew, so shall you reap. You made your bed, now lie in it. A whole bunch of sayings apply. But it's just common sense.  Cao might be in a Democratic dsitrict, but how did he plan on funding his campaign. His support had all the foresight of an Arlen Specter.

Specter blames Kemp's death on GOP agenda

This is classy. There's nothing like spinning a sad death for political leverage. The Washington Times is reporting;

Sen. Arlen Specter, Pennsylvania Democrat, said part of the reason that he left the Republican Party last week was disillusionment with its health-care priorities, and suggested that had the Republicans taken a more moderate track, Jack Kemp may have won his battle with cancer.

...

Mr. Specter continued: "If we had pursued what President Nixon declared in 1970 as the war on cancer, we would have cured many strains. I think Jack Kemp would be alive today. And that research has saved or prolonged many lives, including mine."

Ah. Enjoy your new Senator, Democrats.

What to make of Arlen "the Defector" Specter

It's pretty easy to say good riddance to bad rubbish. While that's seemingly the prevailing sentiment, including my own, a deeper analysis is required since it's a political event and it holds political implications.

First off though, the fun part. Specter was not helpful to conservative causes in very large part. He was self-serving to the end. Look in the dictionary under the term Specter.

spec~ter  –noun

1. a visible incorporeal spirit, esp. one of a terrifying nature; ghost;
phantom; apparition.
2. some object or source of terror or dread: the specter
of disease or famine.
Also, especially British, spectre.

Origin: 1595–1605; spectrum
Synonyms:1. shade. See ghost.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.

While Arlen wasn't really terrifying, his voting record could be. He was a ghost on a lot of conservative positions, and it certainly proved to be an object of dread to conservatives. In other words, he lived up to his name. He was a conservative version of the undead - sucking the like life out of the GOP for his own nefarious purpose - to cling to power as a member of the undead would try to cling to life.

That Specter does not understand core conservative principles is summed up in his illogical foray into the NFL's Spygate issue in 2007/2008.

...there is nothing estimable about Specter's call for a Senate Judiciary Committee investigation into the league's Spygate incident involving the New England Patriots and coach Bill Belichick, and his suggestion that Goodell should be called to testify about why the NFL destroyed the videotape evidence of cheating.

In fact, by putting his nose into an in-house league issue, Specter has portrayed himself as even sillier than Upshaw, who Thursday responded to a question about health benefits for retired players by noting, "The disability program is for the disabled." Duh.

Addressing league matters such as Spygate, some of his colleagues ought to remind Specter, is for the league.

Core principles - free market versus government meddling. Which side did Specter come down on? The same side he's coming down on now - government intervention where it is unwarranted.

That Specter is self-serving is obvious. He bolted on the 28th, this poll came out on the 21st, indicating Specter was in trouble heading into a GOP primary;


And Specter said this on the 19th of March; "To eliminate any doubt, I am a Republican, and I am running for reelection in 2010 as a Republican on the Republican ticket."

Self-serving, not constituent-serving.

So how will the Specter defection affect Democrats and Republicans? There's already been a lot of speculation. He's the Democrats' headache now. He'll be challenged and defeated in the Democratic primary for his re-election bid. Toomey is too far to the right. This is good for the GOP, it purges a RINO. This is bad for the GOP, it weakens the party in the Senate and gives the Democrats a super-majority in the Senate. A lot of speculation, not all correct.

If the conservatism of the GOP is helped by this and they still lose a seat in 2010, the problem is bigger than Specter. The GOP needs to have principles guiding their decision making. But in politics every advantage is an advantage to be taken.

Specter is a symptom of a greater problem. Is there room for RINOs in the party? That question misses the mark. At 39 GOP Senators in the Senate the answer is no - there's no point. If there were 65 Republican Senators in the Senate the answer could be yes. But you need to get to 65 any way you can, in order to carry RINOs. If you had say 12 RINOs and the GOP held those 65 seats, you still have have more than 50 reliable votes and RINOs that you can split issue by issue and perhaps maintain a near filibuster proof majority. The Democrats see it that way on their side. The supposed conservative Democrats, aren't as conservative as you've been told, they're staying on the Democrat reservation. RINOs could be brought in line frequently enough to be useful to the GOP.

In reality, the solution is not to go to the Democrat-lite ground. The solution is to find a better way to communicate to the American public. THAT'S THE REAL SOLUTION. The Democrats and their victories have the GOP fighting a civil war and it's mere distraction. The Democrats hold the keys to the kingdom because they have a better message machine - organized, supported by the MSM and they are on campus, in union halls, at town halls. The GOP is flat-footed and on the defensive on all of those. THAT'S WHERE THE REAL BATTLE NEEDS TO BE FOUGHT. I've pointed this out before.

The problem of Specter would disappear if the GOP were better at getting their message into communities and had a better combat strategy for a partisan mainstream media. The real question then becomes, "So where's Michael Steele?"