Interesting tidbit buried deep in Carl Hulse's and Adam Nagourney's article on Arlen's momentous switch:
At his afternoon news conference, Mr. Specter seemed a suddenly liberated man, laughing and uncoiling at a chatty news conference, where he called for a "rebellion" against his erstwhile party.
Citing the string of moderate Republicans unseated by Club for Growth-financed challengers -- including Lincoln Chafee, Wayne Gilchrest, and Heather Wilson -- Specter stated:
There ought to be a rebellion, there ought to be an uprising
Liberated from the strait-jacket imposed by Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck, dutifully backed up by the elected clowns of the increasingly regional Republican Party.
In case you missed it, Specter did foreshadow today's announcement during his appearance yesterday on NPR's Talk of the Nation. If you hit the "Listen now" link on that page and advance to the 11:55 minute mark, you'll hear this (my transcript):
Neil Conan: This is an email question from Russ, many suspect strongly that the Republicans are going to dump Senator Specter in the coming mid-term elections. Many Pennsylvania Democrats would support him as an independent, myself included, but we are watching his record carefully in the meantime. Well, I guess that election is more than a year away, Senator Specter, nevertheless in the opinion polls you trail a Republican opponent.
Arlen Specter: Well, it is true that the polls are bleak. When I voted for the stimulus package, one of just three, and was in the position along with Senator Snowe and Senator Collins to provide the decisive votes, there was a very strong adverse reaction. There was a resolution filed in state committee to censure me, the state chairman and the national chairman said they didn't know if they could support me, my office was picketed, and it's a tough proposition. I've overcome challenges before, and I'm working on a game plan.
Less than twenty-four hours later, he announced what that game plan was.