Arlen Specter is a Republican.
Not nominally, of course, not anymore. And he's always been allied to the saner side of the party -- on choice, for example, or the stimulus package. But he was a very comfortable member of the party in the 80s and 90s, and only rebelled against the current strain of mutant conservatism that dominates the party in the wake of the last election.
He supports a flat tax. He opposes EFCA. He has always been a hawk. He actually ran for the party's presidential nomination in 1996 -- he didn't get anywhere, but the fact that he thought he could finagle a majority of primary voters into his camp is persuasive. He is a Republican and any votes he takes with us will be purely for his own convenience -- making him an unreliable, finnicky, poll-driven ally. If you hated Lieberman wait till you see THIS guy.
So what do we do?
In a general election between Specter ('D') and Toomey (R), Specter is fairly certain to win. But that doesn't say much -- as Nate Silver says, any conscious Democrat could wallop Toomey. The switch leaves the Republican field open to any ambitious Congressman too scared to take Specter on in the primary, like Jim Gerlach, Todd Russell Platts or Charles Dent -- three of the most moderate in the caucus, according to VoteView. If they run, we're going to have to pull out all the stops -- for an 80-year-old with significant health problems who doesn't like us, doesn't vote our way and whose support on any given day depends on which way the wind is blowing.
So why shouldn't we primary him?
A significant reason why not is, of course, that it makes us look like the Republicans. We've spent all morning crowing about how a small, purist breed of Republicans have taken over the party, enforcing their will ruthlessly on any dissidents. Our strength is that the netroots are comparatively weak compared to the establishment Right; if we want 60 seats, we have to tolerate someone like Specter. (I mean, we tolerate Ben Nelson, right?) It would create one hell of a publicity firestorm, except not so much 'fire'.
But, on the other hand -- Specter's a jerk.
So I want to gauge feelings within the DailyKos community. Should he stay or should he go? Is the fact that he's still pretty much a Republican Except in Name disqualify him from being a member in good standing in our caucus? Or is 60 votes more important?