Senator Arlen Specter Switches Parties

Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania has announced that he is switching parties and will run as a Democrat in the 2010 Democratic primary. Once Senator elect Al Franken (D-Minnesota) is seated, this will give the Senate Democrats a 60 seat majority.

Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas), chairman of the NRSC, last week:

I believe that Senator Specter is our best bet to keep this Senate seat in the GOP column. A vote for Arlen Specter is a vote for denying Harry Reid and the Democrats a filibuster-proof Senate.

Today? Here's Senator Specter's statement on switching parties. I think this paragraph in particular is illuminating:

Since my election in 1980, as part of the Reagan Big Tent, the Republican Party has moved far to the right. Last year, more than 200,000 Republicans in Pennsylvania changed their registration to become Democrats. I now find my political philosophy more in line with Democrats than Republicans.