Senator Specter, perhaps you should be without a "D" or "R" and adopt the letter "I"

Stuck. Completely stuck in the car. Unable to leave because I couldn't tear myself away from Senator Arlen Specter's press conference on KYW yesterday.

Switching parties? Really? After 19 years in the Senate, and a member of the Republican Party since 1966, at age 79 Senior Senator (in fact, according to wikipedia.com, he's the 12th most Senior Senator) Arlen Specter is jumping the fence to the Democrat party.

In his defense, countless times Specter has acted with little regard to party opinions, often siding with unions and leftist viewpoints. Recently, he was one of only 3 Republicans to vote for the $787-billion economic stimulus package. In the Philadelphia region, he has had to fight to keep his seat and his party endorsement as the GOP steered more to the right, leaving him nearly straddling the middle lane, with less support. Infact, in the 2004 primary election, he won by only 2% of the vote against Republican opposition Pat Toomey.

With another primary election just a year away and many conservative Republicans finding it hard to agree with Specter's opinions, I tend to doubt that Specter thinks it desirable to suddenly switch parties simply because of his beliefs. In fact, as I understood it one his first points during the press conference on April 28, 2009, was that he doesn't believe he will win the primary in 2010 as a Republican, and that he won't allow his political career to end in a primary loss. Therefore, he's switching to the left. He says he's now a Democrat. According to a poll by Quinnepiac University, he now has a higher Pennsylvania Democratic approval rating than Republican.

It’s this point that has me concerned. And not just with Specter's fence jumping, but with our country's two party system. Should one just switch parties to insure a win? Isn't that self-serving, rather than politically sound? And wouldn't it be better to be an Independent, one who does not have to prove an attachment to a party's opinions. Ideally, a politician should vote with his own mind, rather than the payments of those who vote for him and he, inevitably, represents.

Wherein lies the problem. In our two-party system, we have two very heavy bank rolls that run political campaigns. Should a politician be supported with a "D" or" R" after his name, that politician is nearly guaranteed a "W" come an election. However, as an "I", that same politician must gain power with his own bank account, and heavier fundraising is necessary to gain the campaign support.

I say this with knowledge. In the 1990's, my father dropped his affiliation with the Republican party upon losing their support while still in office in a suburban Philadelphia school board. With desire to serve the schools, teachers and children, he ran independently the following year. While the Republicans and Democrats had fresh campaigns paid for by their parties and campaigners and voters who were attached to the party name, Dad created campaign materials and a committee based on beliefs--not affiliations. Unfortunately, his campaign ended with an "L" in the election. Biased, but I'm certain that had he been affiliated with a political party and their funding and large-name support, he'd still be on the school board nearly 20 years later.

Self-serving or not, Senator Specter has now left the Right party. He's not a right-wing conservative and has found his moderate viewpoints to be at odds with many leaders of the GOP. As a Democrat, however, will he find more of a fit? Or will his moderate opinions leave him out of the leftist gang?

Perhaps a better solution is the creation of the three-party system with an additional party: The Fence-Sitters. Members of the Fence Sitters are not expected to believe in any specific way. There is no definitive stand on gun-control, abortion or school choice. Members of this party weigh all sides of issues, creating their own opinions and acting on them independently.

I reflect upon my US History courses and recall a certain Declaration of Independence. Should Independency really be so bad?

 

This is an original Philly Moms Blog post. Julie Pron is a mom of 2.6 children who runs after them most of the day. She lists her other endeavors at juliepron.blogspot.com.