Last updated on August 10th, 2014 at 05:44 pm
Even while the GOP Rome burns, some still choose to fiddle. Today on his radio show, Rush Limbaugh wasn’t satisfied with Arlen Specter leaving his party. He said that “people” have been emailing him asking Specter to take John McCain and his daughter Meaghan with him.
Here is the audio courtesy of Media Matters:
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Rush said, “About 20 minutes ago, my email started going nuts with emails from the Judiciary Committee in the Senate Republican side that Arlen Specter was going to switch parties, become a Democrat, leaving the Republican Party. If he does that it gives the Democrats their 60 votes. It gives them a filibuster proof Senate, so it makes the Senate essentially as big a slam dunk for Obama and the Democrats as the House of Representatives. A lot of people say Specter take McCain with you, take McCain and his daughter.”
Rush’s spin on this was that Specter is leaving the GOP because he wasn’t treated like a hero for opposing the Employee Free Choice Act. I don’t understand why Republicans like Limbaugh think that it is funny that moderates are leaving their party. If I was a Republican, I would not be amused at all by a Senator leaving my party. Republicans just gave a Senate seat to the Democrats, but they couldn’t tolerate having a moderate view in their party.
Limbaugh was laughing at the suggestion that Specter should take the McCains with him. John McCain is a fairly conservative politician, but since he disagrees with the party on issues like immigration and torture, I guess he has to go. This is a terrible day for Republicans, and I have even worse news for them, I don’t think that they have hit bottom yet.
Right now, projections show more losses for them in the 2010 election, and if things keep going as they are, I doubt that they will have any chance against Obama in 2012, yet some Republicans see this as a day of celebration. As a PA Democrat I am happy that Specter switched, because for the politics of this state, he fits the Democratic mold.
People like Rush don’t consider moderates to be “real Republicans.” The bad news for the GOP is that aren’t enough, “real Republicans” for them to win election, so celebrate Specter’s departure, and rejoice at you continued election defeats.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
