Specter shift puts Dems near filibuster-proof mark

[tonyc]

I love it, the republicans are hereby irrelevant.

By DAVID ESPO, AP Special Correspondent David Espo, Ap Special Correspondent – 21 mins ago
WASHINGTON – Veteran Republican Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania switched parties Tuesday with a suddenness that seemed to stun the Senate, a moderate's defection that pushed Democrats to within a vote of the 60 needed to overcome filibusters and enact President Barack Obama's top legislative priorities.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090428/ap_ ... ter_switch

[stilltrucking]

Maybe now Obama will be able to get his pick for the secretary of Health confirmed. I think a swine would make a better totem for the republicans than an elephant.

The only problem is that even with sixty votes Sen Harry Sleaze of Nevada is a dunce. The worst democratic majority leader in a long time.

An God only knows when the election in Minnesota will be decided. It may go all the way to the supreme court. You know what happened the last time the court picked the winner.

But even so I think it is good news. I could use some good news.
thanks

[Nazz]

Though I certainly suspect Arlen's (self-preservational) motives for switching parties, in the bigger picture it's appropriate. The GOP, for all of its criticism of the Dems "moving too far to the left" over the last 30+ years, has itself moved too far to the right and lost touch with most of us, becoming this sort of ongoing loud, shape-shifting cartoon in the process. I mean, John Hagee as McCain's "spiritual advisor"? Please. Just one of so many surreal head-scratchers of the last several years...

Of course there will always remain many folks who declare flat out that there's "not a dime's worth of difference between the parties", so there ya go. I think maybe universal, single-payer type health care could be a litmus test in this regard. I'm fairly sure most Americans want it, and are willing to be taxed somewhat to pay for it. If Obama, with his near-70% approval rating, takes it off the table, then you have to wonder if corporate inertia really is too much for any sort of populist politics to overcome.