Jon Richards is an author, journalist, actor, and cartoonist. His political cartoons are seen regularly in the Albuquerque Journal/Santa Fe, and at www.jonrichardsplace.com.
President Obama and Vice President Biden joined former Republican Senator Arlen Specter at a press conference on Wednesday morning, welcoming him to the Democratic party....
I think I speak for myself and anyone who ever lived in Pennsylvania that it's really hard to believe this. But even as we applaud Specter for switching parties, we shouldn't simply concede the primary.
The current swine flu epidemic, with all of its gravitas, actually almost makes light of another "epidemic" that has afflicted millions in the U.S. for years and which shows no sign of subsiding: childhood obesity.
Having a 60-vote filibuster-proof Senate for the president changes the dynamic entirely for Obama's Supreme Court nominee selections, and it changes it in his favor.
For years, many in the conservative world have wished for an ideologically purer GOP. With Arlen Specter's defection, their wish has been granted. Happy?
Once Al Franken is seated in Minnesota, an inevitability expected to happen shortly, the Democratic party will have a 60 seat, filibuster-proof majority.
The Democrats have essentially performed a tactical retreat here, moving Specter to the "D" column rather than risking an election that would clearly have favored them.
Sen. Specter's decision is another nail in the office of the more moderate Republican philosophy associated with former New York governor Nelson Rockefeller.
The GOP has long prided itself on tarring the Democrats with "being out of touch with mainstream American values." Today, that tag seems more applicable to them.
I was listening to Jim Roddey, Republican leader and Chief Executive of Allegheny County from 2000-2004 yesterday, reacting to the news that Arlen Specter was...
The Specter switch should be more than a wake-up call for Republicans. It should be a sign for all in Washington that the governing process is out of whack.
Nobody's going to cast an uncritical vote for a 79-year-old if there's a sentient alternative.
Except, of course, the Democratic president of the United States.
"This is something I've wanted to say for years: is there a bigger dick on this planet than Mitch McConnell?" he said. "I know he thinks he's doing his job, but please, what a turd."
I don't think Spector's going to do that suit justice, no matter how many tailors the party has working on it.