SPECTER SPECTRE

 

Senator Arlen Specter (now D-PA) must have begun thinking of leaving the Republican party in '96 in Iowa when - as a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination - he was loudly booed by a large contingent of loving Christian evangelistas. When he protested, "I'm a Goldwater Republican!" - the mob booed louder to keep him from being heard.

As a moderate on social issues and a libertarian-oriented, pro-Choice Jew, Senator Specter has not been amused by his party's fevered pitch toward Christianist theocracy. He has resisted the anti-intellectual fervor of the yahoo contingent prominently represented by Michelle Bachman and Jim Inhofe.

As an Obama progressive I welcome this courageous statesman to our really big tent and wish him continued health and vigor.