Is there a GOP Senator who would switch parties?

[SAXMAR]

I certainly hope Senator Johnson a speedy recovery from his illness.

However if the GOP is playing extreme hard ball we should too. I think Arlen Specter might switch parties if he gets to keep his Judiciary Committee Chairman seat. Anybody think of any others who might switch?

[jefferson_dem]

1. Chafee would've been a switchable guy but now i guess the only hope

are the two from Maine (Collins and Snowe), and that would be *highly* unlikely.

[SAXMAR]

2. Chafee, yeah he would have been the guy

[Chemical Bill]

18. Chafee said he'd never switch. n/t

[ikojo]

3. Joe Lieberman could switch

Isn't he a GOP senator?

:sarcasm:

[Tesha]

4. Keep the pressure on Collins and Snowe (Maine) (NT)

[jefferson_dem]

6. Collins is up in 2008. And Maine is so fucking BLUE!

Pressure...

[MaineDem]

8. Neither will ever switch.

Not gonna happen.

[Tesha]

9. I dunno -- The lesson of Lincoln Chaffee might resonate with them now. (NT)

[Smarmie Doofus]

5. Really , *really* good question. n/t

[No Exit]

7. Decades ago, one of our state's senators died, and his wife finished out his term

It was, people explained, the usual way such things are handled.

But I assume the power-hungry repukes (already reeling from being shit on by the voters--as they well deserved) will not do this in this case, should poor Johnson die.

[enough already]

10. I'm not giving up a chairmanship to some puke

I haven't forgotten what that douchebag Specter did to Anita Hill. I don't want him on our side.

[election_2004]

11. The best hope....

...would be for McConnell & Company to piss off Olympia Snowe so badly that she does a Jeffords and goes Independent (caucusing with the Dems).

[kentuck]

12. Senator Gordon Smith ?

He's up in 2008 and he's going down....unless he switches Parties.

[pdxmike]

13. Gordo's going nowhere

Don't read too much into his Senate floor speech this week. Smith isn't a neo-con or a whack-job, but he's a conservative Repub in the old style. He would have been comfy in the Senate in the '50s. He's a savvy pol, and knows which way the wind is blowing.

Don't be fooled by the "crunchy" rep Oregon has. We are definitely a purple state. The Dems here have benefited from the fact that the state GOP leadership has morphed into a collection of troglodytes, that McCall, Packwood, and Hatfield wouldn't have anything to do with.
Smith though, is a smart cookie, and pretty popular. The Dems aren't going to be able to take him down.

[kentuck]

14. If you say so...

:)

[pdxmike]

15. that's not to say...

I wouldn't mind it if we could find a way to send him home to his pea farm(and replace him with Blumenauer or DeFazio)!

It's just not real likely.

[kentuck]

16. What were his numbers in the last two elections?

Did he win by double digits?

[depakid]

19. Smith is going down easily in 2008

Oregon's definitely NOT a purple state. Although it has its red areas, overall the electorate is solidly Democratic.

The only reason Smith's in there at all is because the Dems have fielded lame challengers that ran half hearted campaigns.

[onenote]

17. the only switcher I can imagine is Collins, and that's unlikely

The only reason I can see for a current repub Senator to switch parties would be to fend off being defeated by a Democrat in 2008 (see Lincoln Chafee). In other words, a moderate repub who was fearful that they could lose to a Dem might think that they were better off as Dem. Looking at the list of incumbents up for re-election in 2008, only Collins fits the bill. She's fairly moderate, she's from a state with two Democratic House members, a Democratic governor, and both houses of the state legislature are controlled by Democrats.

The only thing is that Snowe was reelected overwhelmingly (70 percent) in November, which would suggest Collins may not have as much to worry about as might otherwise appear. On the other hand, Snowe won in 2000 with around 70 percent and Collins won in 2002 with only around 59 percent, so she's clearly less popular than Snowe.

[MaineDem]

20. Susan will never switch

She is not a Democrat in GOP clothing. And, to be honest, we don't want her.

[jcrew2001]

21. Arlan

How about Arlan spector, haha, maybe surviving cancer will give him a new perspective on life.

Sununu will lose - thats what u get for cheating and f-ing the phone lines.

[Bjorn Against]

22. I would MUCH rather have Leahy heading the judiciary committee than Specter...

And I doubt Specter would switch anyways.

If Norm Coleman had a chance of getting through the DFL primaries in Minnesota he would switch, but he doesn't have a chance at the DFL primary so he won't. Norm is a former leftist turned liberal Democrat turned extreme right wing Republican and now he is trying to turn himself into a moderate. Seriously the guy will be anywhere on the spectrum he finds to be politically convenient at the moment.