Obama To Specter: We Are Thrilled To Have You

White House aides said on Tuesday that they had no advanced knowledge that Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter would be switching party affiliation from Republican to Democrat. Once told, however, the president reached Specter to express his thrill at having him in the party and to offer his full support.

According to a White House aide, the president found out about the switch at 10:25 AM while in the Oval Office receiving his Economic Daily Briefing.

The president was handed a note, the aide said, that read: "Specter is announcing he is changing parties."

Seven minutes later, President Obama reached Specter to tell him, according to the aide, "You have my full support" and that we are "thrilled to have you."

The White House released a photo Tuesday of the president on the phone with Specter:

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Comments

[InfinteShibumi]

Whoa, baby!

[JustLeftOfRight]

Alll of the naysayers stating Specter's doing this just to cover his a$$ and ensure he can continue his career miss the underlying change in prevailing winds. First, the right wing is in control of the GOP now. That leaves moderates like Specter out. Second, the electorate has shifted and conservatism is dying, at least for now That means the GOP base is shrinking and it makes sense for a guy like Specter to move where the majority is. Broadly it says more about the political shift in the country.

[lentinelia]

What you are missing is that Spector gave as his reason for running as a democrat that he did some polling in Connecticut and concluded that he had no chance of winning a contested Republican primary. He said he didn't want his fate as a Senator to be decided by the Republican primary voters.

If his polling had shown that he would win the Republican nomination, he wouldn't be trying to run as a democrat.

Read the voting history of this cretin.
He is on the wrong side of everything and has been in the keister of Bush the whole 8 years.

If he runs as a democrat - I hope he faces a primary opponent and loses.
Good riddance to this right-wing hack.

[blindhog]

Congratulations to the Democratic Party for openning their arms to this great American.

About 15 years ago there was a young Republican who worked out in the same gym as I. He was rebuked by his own party and I told him, speaking for my party, the Democrats would love to have him join them.

He did join the party and is a valuable member of the team in our county.

Inclusion of decent, honorable, well-intentioned individuals is something our party should be about.

[navalvet]

Sen. Specter is clearly an opportunist but there is plenty of room for opportunists in politics. Winston Churchill went from Tory to Liberal and back to Tor, for the sake of his career. When the senator started to drop his support for EFCA, I thought that he was a dishonorable man. He has clearly decided to do onto the Republicans as they would have done to him, so becoming a Democrat and supporting EFCA does something for his credibility. Nevertheless, he still suffers from an extreme sense of entitlement to his senate seat as did Sen. Lieberman.

Sen. Specter still does not have a free pass for the Democratic nomination and Pennsylvania law precludes a primary candidate from running as an independent. So we have to wait for the fat lady to sing.

[jeanrenoir]

Ding, dong, the wicked witch is dead.

[philosopherkingtomas]

We win and republcrites (hannity/p­alin/rush) lose !

[Truthahn]

For once I agree with Barack Obama. I too am thrilled that you Dems have Arlen Specter. You get an unreliable self-interested weasel on your team, and your filibuster-proof majority means you can no longer blame anybody for your party's failures. I am fantastically pleased with this development. I'll have a few drinks tonight to toast Arlen the Democrat.

[mark vf]

omg, that was really damn funny. (and not in the way you intended)

[thrugreeneyez]

It is great to watch the demise of the Repubs right before our eyes!

[mongoose63124]

until '10? sure i guess

republicans are leading dems in congressional polling only 100 days in to golden boy's term....lo­oks like you had better hurry to pass all the non productive stuff you can before we tear it down

[patrickgarret]

Stupid post. LOL Seems you're having a bad day? LOL

[Cunningham]

I'll toast to your pathetic party's demise.

Cheers!

[yankee452]

What you should be toasting is the death of your party .

The fact that you are looking forward to taking glee at the prospect of Democrats owning their failures in the future, just shows what the GOP has been reduced to. Its seems to be instictlive that your idea of effective opposition is merely mocking and demonizing the other party.

Dont you understand ? Just standing on sidelines and hurling abuse does you (or the country) no favors whatsover.

[yhgtup]

The picture of Pres Obama on the phone shows how gracious & respectful he is.

[Epiphany2b]

I knew I always kinda like the guy. If they're not careful, the Republican party will be listing so far to the right the boat will capsize.

In 2001 Jim Jeffords of Vermont changed his Republican party affiliation to become an Independent, and had been accused of being too liberal for the R party. (Over their refusal to fund the Individuals with Disabilities Act, if I recall.) There aren't too many moderates left.

[coolhive]

Their party capsized when then chose GWB for their nominee back in 2000. The party will never recover unless they evolve. This refusal to evolve is what has sealed their fate.

[SteadyOn]

Now don't go talkin' all evolutionary on them! We all know the world is only 6000 years old!

[Disuberence]

I think it's kind of hilarious that the White House released a photo of him talking on the phone with him, lol.

I guess I will never understand the PR game.

[theone718]

Lol it's to show he is reaching across the.....oh wait he is a Dem now.

[Mintcondition]

Let's wait and see folks. How will he vote?

[didleijoe]

He already voted with us when he had the R ;-)

[justoverit333]

he's a moderate. he's not going to follow party
lines. that's ok. I can live with that.

[VOTER]

He will not be a rubber stamp. Fine.

[Truthahn]

If I were a liberal Dem I wouldn't worry about EFCA. He'll probably flip. Somebody will introduce an insignifcant cosmetic change to the legislation, and Arlen will pronounce it a game-changer.

[MESGAIN26]

WE GOT GET SPECTER TO VOTE FOR AMERICA EMPLOYMENT FREE CHOICE ACT THIS ISN'T OVER BY LONG SHOT I WANT RESAULTS

[DFL]

Republicans dont like unions because a blue collar union guy has a chance to end up making more money and living better than alot of white collar college grads do!

[HappyRabbit]

It's not them vs. us. That's just plain stupid. Labor is just sick and tired of getting screwed out of benefits with no real voice at the table.

[publanski]

Maybe in the 1960's.

[Tim Cooper]

Interesting, but this appears to be more "rats fleeing the sinking ship" behavior. Who could blame any Republican that decided enough was enough. Sen Spector is not a progressive, but neither is he a complete idiot. He's making a calculated political gamble to preserve his seat in a state that is turning bluer each day. But the Democratic party shouldn't give him a free pass in the primaries--he needs to be evaluated by the PA democrats for his voting record and his stance on the issues going forward. If Chris Matthews is really considering a run for the Senate, he should take on Spector in the primaries and battle it out with him every step of the way. And Lieberman, the Democratic party needs to find a great candidate to run in CT that will put him where he belongs, lobbying for the special interests that own him.

[Marcospinelli]

Chris Matthews decided months ago not to run, and just three weeks ago signed a new contract with MSNBC.

[archtoplee]

I wonder if Arlen Specter has recieved a note of congraduations from Ira Einhorn, known as the "Uncorn Killer?" Why not? Arlen the "liberal" was defense counselor for the sociopath Ira Einhorn. Specter manuvered a cash bond of $4 thousand dollars to have the Founder of Earth Day out of jail and free on bond because, Specter was impressed with Einhorn's "many accomplishments," and therefore "entitled to a great many presumptio­ns."

Thanks to Specter, Einhorn was free for 16 years in Europe living it up with another girl friend.

Spector got to be a US Senator from Pennsylvania in the Repub Party. Please Democrats, open your arms wide and welcome the attorney of the Unicorn Killer into your party.

[OuterBoroughPrincess]

Zealous legal representation is every American's right, and as maligned as they often are, defense attorneys are a linchpin to each of our freedoms as individuals. Unless Specter personally abetted this guy jumping bail (which would be a crime, not zealous advocacy) then I have no idea what your point is.

[HappyRabbit]

Well said....

[proudloudlib]

I'm with you, Princess! Everyone hates defense lawyers until they need one. They are as important to our system of justice as prosecutors, and people that don't get that don't get America, and don't get the Constitution.

[NotMcCain]

He's a better Democrat than Lieberman.

And ... 60 votes for President Obama !!

Woo-hoo!