News to Wake Up Early For.

I had a terrible sleep last night (does 2 separated hours count as sleeping or is that just a nap?) so I was quite overjoyed to get breaking news on my phone. I was expecting something about the swine flu but boy was I surprised! Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania is switching from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party! This is the type of news that catches every journalist’s attention (bloggers too of course). To everyone else, this may seem to be a common occurrence –especially for Canadians who think ‘crossing the floor’ is just a stride away. Initially I thought it was shocking, but not too rare, so I looked up when was the last time a U.S. senator switched parties directly –NEVER.

Specter is the 13th elected senator to switch parties, but the previous 12 had taken the Independent route before going across or even going back. And, of course, there are those who want an extended title i.e. Joe Lieberman and Harry Byrd are both Independent-Democrats, meaning they didn’t want to sit alone but didn’t want to be a part of the dark side either.

Traitors Switchers (to the other side, not switching back) have been viewed favorably by voters as the ones who ran for re-election had been re-elected to their seats. Specter must have read this bit of information since he was expected to face a tough re-election bid. The Republicans had fielded the former Representative of Pennsylvania’s 15th district Pat Toomey to take another stab at the senate. All polls prior to Specter’s announcement have shown in favor of Toomey.

Specter has always been a moderate that the Democrats have tried to woo on many occasions. Rahm was able to charm the pants off the senator (not literally, sorry for the mental image) on Obama’s stimulus package, which he, along with 2 other moderates, voted for. It has been rumored that this shocking switch of parties was influenced by VPOTUS Biden –but I don’t blame him, no one can resist those blue eyes and bright smile.

The Republican response has been typical: Steele claimed Specter “flipped the bird” at the Republicans and that “I'm sure his mama didn't raise him this way, and it's a shame that he's behaving this way today.” Specter is effectively old enough to be Steele’s father, he’s in no place to question how his mama raised him.

The Democratic response has obviously been positive. The President had found out this morning about the news and called Specter as soon as he can (and if you’ve seen the photo, he called from an ancient phone). Joe Lieberman, another traitor switcher (from Dem to Independent-Dem who campaigned for McCain), welcomed Specter with open arms and a warmed up seat right next to him and on the edge of the Dem-Rep divide.

That’s all from me today! Ciao!

- Franny.

(Additional Item: Glenn Beck tweeted “Palin+Bachmann 2012. Just do it.” Vomit buckets are to your left. Empty parachute packs are to your right.)