Spector, Specter, Spectre?

My favorite James Bond movies were the first ones, with Sean Connery battling SPECTRE (Special Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion) in "From Russia with Love", "Dr. No", "Thunderball" and others. Equally enjoyable was to see Mike Myers and his team lampoon these great movies in his "Austin Powers" movies, making insane references to characters like "Number 2", "Random Task", and even the ultimate nemesis "Dr. Evil".



But unlike the SPECTRE consortium of evil, or even the recent celeb turned murder suspect Phil Spector, in this case, the news of the day is about our Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter, and the news that he is switching parties, from Republican to Democrat.



From a pure logistical standpoint, this is enormous on a couple of fronts. First, it gives the Democrats a 59th Senator to closing out the cloture votes on Republican Filibusters. If the Dems can ever get through the legal wranglings of Minnesota law, and get Al Franken seated, they would have their magic 60 Senators to supposedly thwart a filibuster.



Additionally, and to me, more importantly, it is a sign that the moderate wing of the Republican Party is dying a painful death. Moderates like Specter have all but vanished from the political landscape these days, but the remaining moderates still carried with them some semblance of the old Eisenhower Republicans, the "Rockefeller" Republicans. That party has all but vanished. The Northeast Republican is completely gone. Gone are the Warren Rudmans, Lowell Weickers, John and Lincoln Chafees, and Arlen Specters. A part of the country with 117 electoral votes (Maine to Maryland/DC) used to be a Libertarian Republican bastion of steady habits, limited government intervention on taxes and spending, secular, civil rights, and socially independent-minded. This used to define the Northeast Republican. That party is now officially gone. Only Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe remain, and even they have all the clout in the Republican Party of a Charlie Crist, or Jim Bunning.



There is a contrarian thought going through my head right now, that says that Specter's move is a simple desperation play. That he knows he can win a general election over Pat Toomey, and once re-elected, he will simply change parties again. But I really think Specter has come to the conclusion that his political views that used to represent the old line Republican values, no longer have a place in the party.



And this is a shame. Because there are many political issues that really need a two-sided debate. But Republican leadership has become so adherent to the Right Wing of the party there is no longer room for the Arlen Specters of the party. Most of his colleagues have already been voted out (see Chafee, Gordon Smith, Chris Shays). All that is left is a shrinking minority that is basically hoping for...what? A terrorist attack? A Great Depression? The pull to the Right of this party has left one more Republican without a party. And in this case, I fear that if the GOP doesn't get its act together, it will end up being thrown totally into chaos.



For my Liberal friends, this sounds like heaven. But I warn the Left, that without a righteous and faithful opposition, leaders can easily spin out of control, and begin to make dangerous decisions right under our noses. Right now, there isn't enough collaboration, leading to the best possible solutions. There is only partisan politics, leading to a tyranny of the majority. Many on the left feel it is just payback for the Bush years, but I would remind them of the great quote that I heard Alan Simpson use on a talk show a few years back.



"..[be careful] when using the automatic fanny-kicker on the minority party, because when the tables turn, and it's you in the minority, you can't seem to find the 'off' button on that thing..."



Specter will be a constructive voice in the debates that lie ahead for this Congress. Let's make sure this is a first step towards broader consensus, and not just a 60th vote for a Liberal agenda. Let's hope our leaders in Washington have the wisdom to recognize the difference between the two concepts.