Eeeenteresting. As noted over at TPMDC, a new Quinnipiac poll has Arlen Specter in a dead heat with Pat Toomey, 45-44 percent. Against Joe Sestak, Specter’s Democratic primary challenger, Toomey’s up 39-35 percent; but both candidates lack real name recognition.
Specter now is roped to Obama’s economic policies; and the 2010 election will be seen, rightly, […]

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Cedes the field to Toomey, it looks like:

“After careful consideration and many conversations with friends and family and the leadership of my party, I have decided not to seek the Republican nomination for Senate,” Ridge said in a statement, adding later, “The 2010 race has significant implications for my party, and that required thoughtful reflection. […]

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Via John Cole, Olympia Snowe sounding like she’s not too far from following Specter:
It is true that being a Republican moderate sometimes feels like being a cast member of “Survivor” — you are presented with multiple challenges, and you often get the distinct feeling that you’re no longer welcome in the tribe. But it is […]

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Missed this yesterday - El Rushbo wants Specter to take McCain and his daughter with him.
I am wholly in favor of the idea. As Joe Sudbay over at Americablog notes:
Rush is weeding out anyone who is remotely moderate. He is shrinking the GOP.
Keep it up, Rush.
I don’t think you understand. A GOP whittled away to its dense, […]

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So predictable. But funny!

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Via Steve Benen, this is a very good call:
Specter is one of the better-known senators in America. If you follow politics even casually, you’ve seen or heard him on the news before. So it’s going to register with you that a major Republican senator has decided his party has become too extreme for him. And […]

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The news of the day. Lotsa libs aren’t real happy about this, and I wouldn’t have expected them to be.
But the fact is Specter’s switch says a lot more about the Republican Party than it does the Dems.
It’s probably true, as RNC Chairman Michael Steele says, that Specter switched because “he knew that he was […]

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Drudge has it up:
Arlen Specter switching to Democrats?
Update: And now the AP:
Sources say veteran GOP Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania intends to switch parties.
Update II: Via PoliticsPa, here’s Specter’s statement:
Since my election in 1980, as part of the Reagan Big Tent, the Republican Party has moved far to the right. Last year, more than 200,000 Republicans […]

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You might have seen yesterday that Sen. Arlen Specter came out against ECFA, saying he’ll vote against cloture - which means proponents of the “card check” bill won’t have a filibuster-proof majority, and the bill probably won’t pass.
There was much speculation as to what Specter would do - he’s supported unions in the past - […]

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Been a very busy week for a variety of reasons, which means I’ve missed a bunch of things that otherwise would have shown up here - for which I apologize to you, the paying customer! Er…
Anyway. Joe Hainthaler had something on this earlier in the week: Arlen Specter saying that he might wind up running […]

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Hm:
U.S. Senator Arlen Specter (R-Pa) talked with WILK’s Nancy and Kevin this morning about the economy, healthcare reform, his opinion on Rush Limbaugh, and the leader of the Republican Party.  Specter criticized RNC Chairman Michael Steele on his recent flip-flop concerning comments about Rush Limbaugh.  When asked who’s leading Republicans, Senator Specter laughed and said […]

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So this looks to be Specter’s strategy:
“I think we’re on the brink of a depression,” Sen. Specter said to reporters in Harrisburg, PA on Monday. “I think that if we had turned [the stimulus package] down it would have been repercussions world wide,” he added. …
<snip>
Sen. Specter is fully aware of the vulnerability on his right flank […]

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…may be switching parties. From TPMDC:
Former Rep. Pat Toomey, who challenged Specter from the right in the Republican primary back in 2004, then went on to head the Club For Growth, is reportedly running again in 2010.
In this case, bad news for Specter could also be good news for Democrats — if the ultra-conservative Toomey […]

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Arlen running uphill:
A new statewide poll shows 53 percent of Pennsylvanians — and 66 percent of Republicans — want someone to replace Sen. Arlen Specter.
Limbaugh, in other words, speaks for about two-thirds of Pennsylvania Republicans.
Among registered Republicans, 66 percent favored a new senator and 26 percent backed Specter. The margin of error on that question […]

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