I have no idea how to actually spell the guys name, I have seen the 3 above most frequently, pick your favorite.
That being said, YOU DON"T PRIMARY A PARTY SWITCHER IN THIS CLIMATE.
Here are just a few comments pulled from the thread The RNC Repsonds.
he'll be an asshole now. But he's a Democratic asshole - make of that what you will. To me he's just another asshole Democrat who may be useful in the short term but potentially damaging in the long term. If there is one way this party does not need to go, it's further to the right--especially in the worthless Senate Social Club.
I hope this backfires on him and we run a good primary and throw his ass out.
The question we need to be asking is whether there's a Democrat who can beat Specter in a Dem primary.
This deal was wired w/ Rendell in advance. The insiders won and the netroots lost here.
I know the mission of this site is to elect progressive liberals to public office, however, in this instance I recommend backing off, why? See below the fold.
It is time for us to reconize we are moving to a strong majority status. I am not talking about voting proportions in the House and Senate, I am talking about in the country. One of the reasons this is happening is because Obama and his approach to campaigning has neutralized much of the old fear/divide and conquer tactics the right has deployed since the Goldwater era. Part of that process has been to move registered Republicans back to their more natural ideological position which is left of center.
In fact when you look at the Obama candidacy in PA, combined with Rendell's drive to get party switchers liined you can clearly see this trend. Nearly a quarter million formerly registered republicans either switched to Democrat or, at the least, became non-affiliated. I would wager a high number of those folks will be Arlen supporter's come primary time. Primarying (is that a word) would only serve to alienate this new found pool of voters. This his two probelmatic effects:
- The optics are just terrible, this guy has just handed you a crucial vote you need and you turn your political back on him. It will look small and petty.
- Any other potential party switchers will likely be turned off by the whole affair.
We must keep our eye, not only on the liberal agenda itself, but seek to expand the left leaning views of the population at large. We need to move them to the left. Show them that the propagnada from the Right wing is just that propoganda. Show them that we share their values and what the same thing they want, what is best for them, their families and America.
Placing your hand gently in the small of the back and guiding people to a good place, the place you want them to be, often yields better results than grabbing their arm and trying to yank them there (you might get them to where you want them to be, but they won't be to happy about it). Let them dip their tow in the water first, don't try and push them in the deep end right away, as it were.
This is a good thing, and despite his personal motives and general political viewpoint, remember he is indeed reflecting the mood of his constituents, the large portion of voters that switched parties in the last election. We need to recognize that and bring his voters into the fold, not alienate them, not prove the GOP propaganda machine right.