I Don't Get It

Ed Rendell, Bob Casey and Joe Biden have all reportedly tried to get Arlen Specter to come over to the darkside. Such a move would probably work pretty well for Specter who is likely to face a tough primary challenge having pissed off the far right base. So Specter gets to stay in office and the Democrats get what exactly? Sure 60 seats sounds nice, but that assumes that you are going to get all 60 Senators onboard and that is unlikely to happen. Is Specter the Democrat going to be that different than Specter the Republican?

It is pretty tough work to unseat a Senator. Right now Specter is pretty weak, especially within the GOP. Instead of trying to get Specter to change teams, why not run somebody against him or whomever comes out of the GOP primary? Allowing Specter to become a Democrat only further entrenches him within the state and doesn't promise the Democrats much. The Democratic party has won two straight election cycles promising a lot of things that Specter doesn't seem to keen to go along with. A real Democrat might.