
 |
|
May 22, 2013
John Thorne:
They launched the 'Arab Spring' but now yearn for the good old days of a strongman
May 20, 2013
Richard A. Serrano: Is Meir Kahane's assassin now a changed man?
Melissa Healy: Genetic copies of living people from embryos no longer science fiction
Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Jews Inducted into Rock Hall of Fame; Anton Yelchin co-stars in New "Trek" film; Kutcher (but not Kunis) visits Israel; Jewish TV Star Praises Jewish Rap Star
The Kosher Gourmet by Cathy Pollak: WARNING: This WALNUT CAKE WITH PRALINE FROSTING, perfect for afternoon coffee, is addicting
May 13, 2013
Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Why the giving of the document that would permanently change the world could only be done in desolation
David G. Savage: Church-state, literally? Supreme Court weighing public school graduation in a church
May 10, 2013
Rabbi Berel Wein: Be all that you should be
May 8, 2013
Peter Ford: Why China is welcoming both Israel's Netanyahu and Palestinians' Abbas
Warren Richey: Obama administration quietly backs out of appeal over new contraceptive mandate
Fred Weir: At Kerry-Putin meeting, US-Russia relations thaw --- a tad
The Kosher Gourmet by Leela Cyd Ross : Almost too pretty to eat, this colorful salad with Sicilian inspiration will tickle the taste buds and delight your visual sensibility
May 6, 2013
May 3, 2013
Kids, kittens the Same? With employee perks at struggling Internet pioneer Yahoo! it's hard to tell
Sandy Kleffman: Artificial kidney offers hope to patients tethered to a dialysis machine
April 29, 2013
Roy Gutman: Poland's new Jewish museum celebrates life, doesn't revisit Holocaust
Mark Clayton: Terrorism in America: Is US missing a chance to learn from failed plots?
Kim Murphy: Boston Bomber's 'Svengali' Revealed
Pete Spotts: Tiny satellites + cellphones = cheaper 'eyes in the sky' for NASA
April 26, 2013
Clifford D. May: Defense in the Age of Jihadist Terrorism
Sharon Palmer, R.D.: How to feel your best -- with plenty of energy, a healthy weight and optimal mental and physical function -- without driving yourself batty
April 24, 2013
|
| |
Jewish World Review
April 30, 2009
/ 6 Iyar 5769
Arlen Specter: Good riddance
By
Cal Thomas
| 
|
|
|
|
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
The return of Sen. Arlen Specter to the Democratic Party (he flipped in 1965 from "Kennedy Democrat" to Republican) is something that should be celebrated by Republicans, at least those who are proud to call themselves conservatives. Specter is a career politician whose first priority is himself.
Specter, whose predictable lament that the GOP is not the "big tent" he had been led to believe it was, now embraces a Democratic Party that is an even smaller tent. How many pro-life Democrats exercise any influence in that party? How many opponents to same-sex marriage are in the Democratic leadership? Smaller government? Lower taxes? No leading Democrat, inside or outside Congress, subscribes to such things. And yet the big media and many pundits continue the fiction that Republicans are in electoral trouble because they do not tolerate liberal ideas.
The day Democrats embrace those holding conservative ideas and implement at least some of them will be the day Republicans can be told to water down their principles. In fact, Republicans in recent years have behaved more like Democrats than Republicans and have paid the electoral price for doing so. Republicans under George W. Bush added to the size and cost of government. Republicans created new spending programs and increased the reach of the federal government in education and other areas. The major difference between Republicans and Democrats these days is this: Democrats know how to use power when they get it; Republicans, when they gain power, spend most of their political capital trying to prove they are not mean, uncaring, racist, sexist and homophobic. Republicans masquerade as Democrats and want to be liked. Democrats live to rule.
| FREE SUBSCRIPTION TO INFLUENTIAL NEWSLETTER |
| Every weekday NewsAndOpinion.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". HUNDREDS of columnists and cartoonists regularly appear. Sign up for the daily update. It's free. Just click here. |
|
The Republican Party, much to the consternation of conservatives, saved Specter's bacon in the 2004 election. Part of Karl Rove's strategy was to re-elect Republicans, no matter how liberal. Specter won that election thanks to the efforts of the Bush White House and gobs of Republican National Committee money that was poured into his race. How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless politician.
Specter switched parties because of the serious primary challenge he faced from conservative Pat Toomey. As recently as six weeks ago, Specter told The Hill newspaper that he would not become a Democrat because the country needs a vibrant two-party system. What happened? In a news conference, Specter acknowledged that poll data showed he would lose the primary to Toomey. He also said he was promised financial help by Pennsylvania Democratic Governor Ed Rendell should he convert.
The Republican Party is better off without Specter who, along with other "moderates," has weakened the party. These RINOs (Republicans in name only) have kept the party from renewing its conservative roots and contrasting itself with the liberal wing of the Democratic Party.
Liberals do not win elections for Republicans. Conservatives win elections. Whenever conservatives try to placate liberals and show how sensitive and caring and in touch with the feelings and concerns of the other party they are, they lose. But when Republicans stand on principles and demonstrate conviction and give evidence that their ideas work, they win.
Yes, Arlen Specter kept his word not to let his pro-abortion views get in the way of the confirmations of Justice Sam Alito and Chief Justice John Roberts. In return for that promise he was allowed to remain chairman of the Judiciary Committee. That was a triumph, not of Specter's conviction, but of pragmatism. If Specter were a pro-life Democrat, the liberal wing of the party he is now entering would have stripped him of his chairmanship. Can anyone say John Dingell? The "moderate" Michigan Democrat was removed as chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce and replaced by the ultra-liberal, Rep. Henry Waxman of California.
Democrats play for keeps. Too often, Republicans play for good reviews from those who hate them and wish to defeat their policies. Good riddance to Specter. The Republican challenge now should be to focus on what works, not ideology, though ideology should drive successful policies. Republicans can beat Democrats on that line, but they will continue losing elections if they stress only ideological purity instead of demonstrating that their principles are superior to those of welfare state Democrats.
Specter's self-serving switch ought to make it easier for the GOP, but will it?
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
| BUY THE BOOK |
| Click HERE to purchase it at a discount. (Sales help fund JWR.). |
|
Cal Thomas Archives JWR contributor Cal Thomas is co-author with Bob Beckel, a liberal Democratic Party strategist, of "Common Ground: How to Stop the Partisan War That is Destroying America". Comment by clicking here.
© 2006, Tribune Media Services, Inc.
|
|

Arnold Ahlert
Mitch Albom
Jay Ambrose
Michael Barone
Barrywood
Lori Borgman
Stratfor Briefing
Mona Charen
Linda Chavez
Richard Z. Chesnoff
Ann Coulter
Greg Crosby
Larry Elder
Suzanne Fields
Christine Flowers
Frank J. Gaffney
Bernie Goldberg
Jonah Goldberg
Julia Gorin
Jonathan Gurwitz
Paul Greenberg
Argus Hamilton
Victor Davis Hanson
Betsy Hart
Ron Hart
Nat Hentoff
A. Barton Hinkle
Jeff Jacoby
Paul Johnson
Jack Kelly
Ch. Krauthammer
David Limbaugh
Kathryn Lopez
Rich Lowry
Michelle Malkin
Jackie Mason
Ann McFeatters
Dale McFeatters
Dana Milbank
Jeanne Moos
Dick Morris
Jim Mullen
Deroy Murdock
Judge A. Napolitano
Bill O'Reilly
Clarence Page
Kathleen Parker
Star Parker
Dennis Prager
Wesley Pruden
Tom Purcell
Sharon Randall
Robert Robb
Cokie & Steve Roberts
Heather Robinson
Debra J. Saunders
Martin Schram
Greg Schwem
Culture Shlock
David Shribman
Roger Simon
Lenore Skenazy
Michael Smerconish
Thomas Sowell
Ben Stein
Mark Steyn
John Stossel
Cal Thomas
Dan Thomasson
Bob Tyrrell
Diana West
Dave Weinbaum
George Will
Walter Williams
Byron York
ZeitGeist
Mort Zuckerman

Robert Arial
Chuck Asay
Baloo
Lisa Benson
Chip Bok
Dry Bones
John Branch
John Cole
J. D. Crowe
Matt Davies
John Deering
Brian Duffy
Everything's Relative
Mallard Fillmore
Glenn Foden
Jake Fuller
Bob Gorrel
Walt Handelsman
Joe Heller
David Hitch
Jerry Holbert
David Horsey
Lee Judge
Steve Kelley
Jeff Koterba
Dick Locher
Chan Lowe
Jimmy Margulies
Jack Ohman
Michael Ramirez
Rob Rogers
Drew Sheneman
Kevin Siers
Jeff Stahler
Scott Stantis
Danna Summers
Gary Varvel
Kirk Walters
Dan Wasserman

Tech Q&A
Mr. Know-It-All
Ask Doctor K
Richard Lederer
Frugal Living
On Nutrition
Bookmark These
Bruce Williams
|