Sen. Specter's 'switcheroo'

Inter Lake editorial

There are signs, it seems, of a creeping, incremental erosion of checks and balances in Washington, D.C., and this week there was another, the defection of Sen. Arlen Specter from the Republican to the Democratic Party.

On its own, it is not all that earth-shaking. Similar things have happened before without a resulting catastrophe. But combined with the near-certain installation of Al Franken as the new senator from Minnesota, Democrats will hold a filibuster-proof majority of 60 in the Senate.

President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats are on the brink of becoming a force that cannot easily be stopped. The only restraint they may have is a core of "blue dog" Democrats in the Senate who might choose to side with Republicans on select issues.

Even so, many Republicans are not mourning the loss of Specter. There is a view that his switcheroo is merely a formality because he has bucked his party on many issues over the years.

The larger outrage is Specter's bald-faced, selfish opportunism.

In a statement, Specter made it pretty clear why he was shifting to the Democratic column: "I am unwilling to have my 29-year Senate record judged by the Pennsylvania Republican primary electorate."

In other words, Specter was acknowledging that he would lose to Republican challenger Pat Toomey, and he's not about to let that happen.

Specter went on to disingenuously claim that the Republican Party has "moved far to the right" for his tastes.

If anything, the Republican Party has drifted toward the center since the days of Ronald Reagan, when Specter was apparently satisfied with his party. Republicans served up Sen. John McCain as their last presidential candidate, and the closest rival to McCain as a "moderate" in the Senate was none other than, well, Specter himself.

Specter switched from Democrat to Republican in 1965 for the similar, singular purpose of getting elected to Congress.

He has amply demonstrated that he is a creature of opportunity and convenience rather than conviction. Hopefully, Pennsylvania's Democratic voters will recognize this and nominate a Democrat who authentically shares and represents their views rather than just going along with Specter's wishes for a still longer Senate career.

And hopefully Republicans can figure out a way to at least become an effective opposition party. They sure can't do it with the likes of Specter in their ranks.