this little piggy went to market

sen. arlen specter of pennsylvania switched parties today. he's now a demican, instead of a republicrat. he's tough on crime and national security, but is pro-choice. a member of the senate nearly 30 years, he did some very fancy maneuvering after being strong-armed by v.p. biden. his tenure in congress will be considered as all-democrat, making him one of the more senior senators with a likely reward of a plum chairmanship.

he will not change his voting patterns nor his stands. this was not a move to get to cloture. this was pragmatism, not idealism. 200,000 voters in his home-state switched parties last year. with no strong democrat set to run, specter was going to be challenged by pat toomey, former head of club for growth, the conservative anti-tax group. he narrowly defeated toomey last round, and the club had promised to gun for him hard this time around. the club has defeated several moderate republicans in the last several years, including lincoln chafee in rhode island, wayne gilchrest in maryland and heather wilson in new mexico. pennsylvania may be growing bluer, but its conservatives are getting redder by the day.

specter looked at his odds, and walked out of the tattered big tent. the one where only the shrillest and out-of-touch voices are heard. neo-cons like to tout how conservative american is. ya know what? it's not. it's a nation of moderates. they've learned nothing from the sarah palin debacle.

in a confession of hopeful rubbernecking, i almost can't wait to watch gingrich sweat and squirm under the hot lights in 2012.

michael steele, chairman of the gop, wasted no time and minced no words: mr. specter, he said, “didn’t leave the gop 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.” and they're gracious too! not a single word of gratitude to an 80-year-old man who served his party nearly 30 years. here's your hat, there's the door. we will whip your old bony ass. that he could utter the word "principle" and not choke is kind of amazing too.