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Cheer Up
Weekly Standard Blog — The boss says Specter's defection is good news: I wonder if today’s Arlen Specter party switch, this time to the president’s party, won’t end up being bad for President Obama and the Democrats. With the likely seating of Al Franken from Minnesota, Democrats will have 60 seats in the Senate, giving Obama unambiguous governing majorities in both bodies. He’ll be responsible for everything. GOP obstructionism will go away as an issue, and Democratic defections will become the constant worry and story line. This will make it easier for GOP ...

Good news for Republicans!
Balloon Juice — ... I really can’t improve on the title of Bill Kristol’s “quick hit” about how great it is for Republicans to have lost Arlen Specter. ...

Arlen Specter Leaves the Party of No
Comments from Left Field — ... any moderates in its midst. Here’s Arlen Specter’s press statement. GOP reaction? Specter is a hypocrite and a traitor. He is “not only disrespectful, but downright rude.” The Club for Growth was too shocked for words. At Power Line, Paul tells us Specter is an opportunist and John cannot quite remember Meg Ryan’s name. William Kristol: “Good news for Republicans.” Rush Limbaugh: “Take McCain and ...

Early Morning Swim: Special Bill Kristol Is Still An Assclown Edition
Firedoglake — ... The country's turning on Obama: TEAPARTY! First US death from swine flu? Meet the new HHS. Impeach now. Support Marcy! Looks like Biden got his man. Nate breaks down the Specter switch. You just can't make this shit up. Share

All about Specter
The Reaction — ... -- The Republican Party is becoming ever more of an isolated, extreme, irrelevant party. And yet don't seem to care. Indeed, high-profile Republicans like Krazy Bill Kristol and ...

Hasta
Jules Crittenden — ... Bill Kristol  with the good news re Specter’s switch: No excuses. With the likely seating of Al Franken from Minnesota, Democrats will have 60 seats in the Senate, giving Obama unambiguous governing majorities in both bodies. He’ll be responsible for everything. GOP obstructionism will go away as an issue, and Democratic defections will become the constant worry and story line. It’s a Pyrrhic kind of victory, a tactical advantage in the wake of defeat, that relies on the opponent’s missteps. Goes nowhere without some party rebuilding and the emergence of candidates on the GOP ...

Bad news for Obama!
Althouse — "He’ll be responsible for everything." blog advertising blog advertising

What Do They Expect?
The Mahablog — ... You know the Defection was a disaster for Republicans when Bill “Always Wrong About Everything” Kristol calls the Defection “good news for Republicans!” What’s coming from the likes of Rush and Lulu are variations on “don’t let the door hit your butt on the way out, Arlen.” And ...

Kristol reflects on 2001
Political Animal — KRISTOL REFLECTS ON 2001.... The Washington Post 's Bill Kristol tries to make the case that Arlen Specter's party switch may benefit Republicans, just as Jim Jeffords' switch did in 2001. On May 24, 2001, I wrote an op-ed for The Post in the wake of Vermont Sen. James Jeffords's party switch. I argued that the switch, which cost Republicans control of the Senate, could well turn out to be good for President Bush. Not entirely for the reasons I speculated on in the op-ed, I turned out to be right. Bush was still able to get enough cooperation to govern over the next year ...

Losing Is Winning
The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan — Kristol daydreams.

The Defection Of Arlen Specter-- The Day After
DownWithTyranny! — Spokesmen for the sore loser/obstructionist end of the GOP-- Newt Gingrich, William Kristol, Michael Steele (who called Specter "left wing"), and party pacesetters Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh, who suggested Specter take the entire McCain family with him, are positively celebratory in their hysteria about the loss of one of their best known senators, Arlen Specter. These really are the voices that have helped push the GOP to a place where only 21% of Americans identify themselves as Republicans. What a shame Cheney has chimed in yet! As ...

Links for 2009-04-29 [del.icio.us]
FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog — Good News for Republicans! - Arlen Specter Has Left the GOP Similarly and contrarianly, I wonder if today’s Arlen Specter party switch, this time to the president’s party, won’t end up being bad for President Obama and the Democrats. With the likely seating of Al Franken from Minnesota, Democrats will have 60 seats in the Senate, giving Obama unambiguous governing majorities in both bodies. He’ll be responsible for everything. GOP obstructionism will go away as an issue, and Democratic defections will become the constant worry and story line. An ...

links for 2009-04-30
FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog — ... (tags: CIA) Good News for Republicans! - Arlen Specter Has Left the GOP Similarly and contrarianly, I wonder if today’s Arlen Specter party switch, this time to the president’s party, won’t end up being bad for President Obama and the ...

Weekend Opinionator: Souter, Specter and the Future of the G.O.P.
Opinionator — ... made his decision to leave the party after years of being attacked by fellow Republicans. I can understand how he felt, but I believe that now, more than ever, it is important for us moderates to stay and work from within. One thing we can be sure of is that we will have no impact on the party’s direction if we leave.” So, while the moderates bickered over the better part of valor, the Movement Conservatives have gone on the offensive. Writing at the Washington Post, William Kristol celebrated the Specter defection: “I wonder if today’s Arlen Specter party switch, this time ...

Sunday Talk - That's Gonna Leave a Mark
Daily Kos — Like a magic bullet, Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA) defied the laws of physics on Tuesday, moving back and to the left. In doing so, he delivered what might have been a fatal blow to the GOP, were it not for a team of highly-skilled spin doctors. They have the technology. They have the capability to make the world’s first monochromatic party. The GOP will be that party. Better than they were before. Better. Stronger. Faster. ...

Prime Rich of the Week
Hoffmania! — ... of countless wake-up calls the party has slept through since 2006. That was the year that Specter’s Pennsylvania Republican colleague in the Senate, Rick Santorum, lost his seat by a margin of more than 17 percentage points. Despite that rout and many more like it of similar right-wing candidates throughout America, the party’s ideological litmus test is more rigid than ever. The G.O.P. chairman, Michael Steele, and enforcers of Republican political correctness like William Kristol and the blogger Michele Malkin jeered Specter and cheered his departure. A ...

The Weekly Standard, Where It's Always Good News For Republicans
The New Republic blogs — ... hot again. The Good News : "While McCain may win the presidency, Republicans aren't likely to recapture either the Senate or the House. Their aim is to cut their losses--to fewer than 10 in the House and 3 or 4 in the Senate--and hope for better times in 2010. With their new and improved brand, they have at least a shot at this."It may seem far-fetched, but President Bush has helped. As Democrats have tried to tie McCain to him, Bush has mostly stayed out of the limelight." Date : 04/28/2009 (This wasn't published in TWS , but it was written by its editor, Bill Kristol.) ...