Not a bad response from RNC Chairman Michael Steele:
Some in the Republican Party are happy about this. I am not.
Let’s be honest-Senator Specter 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 Sen. Specter in 2010, assuming the Democrats don’t do it first.
Pat Toomey won't come within 30 points of beating Specter, and PA Republicans don't have anyone else remotely competitive. So that won't be a problem. But Steele is right -- Specter switched because of political expediency, and given his refusal to switch on EFCA, it means that Democrats will still be motivated to take him out in a primary.
But as we've seen, Specter has no convictions he won't betray in his naked efforts to remain in power. If Pennsylvania labor was smart, they'd get a real Democrat to say he was going to primary Specter. It's likely Specter expects Gov. Ed Rendell to clear the field for him. But given a serious primary challenger (or even the threat of one), there's little reason Specter wouldn't flip right back on EFCA.
Still, while Specter's switch was every bit as unprincipled as Steele says, fact is that he switched because the GOP has moved far to Specter's Right. He was going to get crushed in the primary of a party that had little problem electing him over a 40-year career. Now, with moderate Republicans in the Keystone State abandoning the GOP in droves in favor of the Democratic Party, it was clear his base had abandoned him to the Dems, and what was left of the Pennsylvania GOP was more in sync with John Cornyn's Texas than in the Pennsylvania mainstream.