Olympia Snowe getting ready to jump ship?

[ciphergoth]

We Didn’t Have to Lose Arlen Specter

IT is disheartening and disconcerting, at the very least, that here we are today — almost exactly eight years after Senator Jim Jeffords left the Republican Party — witnessing the departure of my good friend and fellow moderate Republican, Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, for the Democratic Party. And the announcement of his switch was all the more painful because I believe it didn’t have to be this way.

Senator Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), NYT 2009-04-28

With Specter switching sides, Snowe and her Maine colleague Susan Collins are the two most moderate Republicans in the Senate.

I can't help but notice the total absence of anything to say that Specter made a mistake, or did something he should be castigated for. Rather, the Republican party are the sole focus of her blame and anger, for forcing Specter out. Is this Snowe getting ready to jump? The GOP are were in a very bad place a week ago; since then they've conceded a special election in NY-20 that they were supposed to win, and lost a senator to the other side. They're likely to force out disastrous RNC chairman Michael Steele over the NY-20 defeat soon, and they don't have anyone good to replace him with. If that's followed by the loss of another senator, or two senators, the Grand Old Party could be in its worst state since FDR took office. What's going to happen next?

Comments

[adjectivemarcus.livejournal.com]

I feel sorry for Al Franken! How long has that taken now?

[ciphergoth.livejournal.com]

If Coleman wants to run again for anything ever, he'll give up when the Minnesota Supreme Court chucks it out. The earliest that can happen is June - so he'll have delayed the result by seven months, and kept Franken out of the Senate for over four months. It'll be a bit of a shame if the Ds already have a 60-seat majority by the time he gets there, but it will still make a real difference - one more lefty Senator means throwing bones to one less DINO in the event of a close vote...

[palmer1984.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't say lefty!

[ciphergoth.livejournal.com]

Relatively lefty, then :-)

[dglenn.livejournal.com]

Out of curiosity, what lefties do we have in the legislature? I'm not as well informed as I really ought to be, but all the Dems I know much about are centrists or conservatives-who-only-look-liberal-next-to-Republicans. Whom should I be cheering on?

[palmer1984.livejournal.com]

I don't really know. I'm not an American. AFAICT pretty much all Democrats are centrists!

[ciphergoth.livejournal.com]

Nearest I know of is Barney Frank?