The Specter Effect
I'm sure that there's a lot of outrage on the right about Specter's defection to the Democratic Party today. I'm not really surprised, I mean they've made no bones about telling him he's not wanted in the party. Why is Michael Steele now surprised that he left (other than the fact that Steele appears to be about the most inept party chair ever)? However, I think the state that it will affect the most will be Minnesota. There is zero chance that the GOP lets Coleman concede the election until the SCOTUS weighs in on the decision. This probably hurts Pawlenty's chances because polls are showing that Minnesotans just want another Senator and want the whole charade to be over. The poll I saw (sorry, no link) was that the majority Coleman to concede but would want Franken to concede if he lost the next court battle. If the national GOP forces Coleman's hand, Pawlenty could lose a lot of support in his home state. I'll never know if Specter switched for personal political gain or if for true idological reasons. But like I said, I'm not surprised as I could only take the crap that the GOP has given him for so long before just leaving as well. There was zero reason for him to stay in the party and every reason for him to leave. I think that has the potential to help the Democrats well beyond PA if the GOP continues to act like the Democrats circa 2002.
