Pennsylvania Republican Senator Arlen Specter to change to Democratic Party. That, when Al Franken finally gets into the Senate, will bring Senator Harry Reid’s total to 60, which means the Republicans can no longer filibuster. Big boost to Democratic Party’s control of the Congress.
Specter says the Republican Party left him—he didn’t really leave the Republicans.
Actually, Specter has concluded he cannot win re-election as a Republican, but can as a Democrat.
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Here is what Specter himself said:
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Senator Specter’s assessment of possible Republican Support in Pennsylvania is that it is bleak.
I wonder if there will be something of a ripple effect of Specter’s change of party’s in Nevada. I don’t expect Senator Ensign to make a switch. He tends more to the right wing conservative views of the Nevada Republican Party.
But, it is not unreasonable to expect some rank and file Republicans in Nevada will follow Specter’s lead and switch over to the Democratic Party. We’ll know in 2010.
Senator Ensign is up for re-election in 2010. So is Dean Heller, the Republican incumbent in Congressional District #2. If there is a noticeable continuing change of rank and file Republicans to the Democratic Party in Congressional District #2 it will have a decided impact on the efforts of Paul Reeves and Cindy Trigg to win the Democratic nomination in Congressional District #2. The rural counties of Nevada, including Nye, remain a rosy red at present. If the Nye County Democratic Central Committee moves rapidly and can secure the volunteer assistance of enough rank and file Democrats in Nye County it is possible that Nye County could lead the way for the remaining rural counties to turn blue along with the current three blue counties in Nevada.
For those of you who would like additional information about Senator Specter go here.
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There’s an additional factor that will add to the chaos: District 2 is likely to be redistricted and split in two in 2012. I expect politics in rural Nevada to be a roller coaster ride for the next several years.
For the Nye County Central Committee to act quickly and ride this wave (instead of getting crushed under it) they will have to reach out to new members, especially minorities, young adults, and youth.
I was disappointed last night to see that I was once again the youngest person in the room, and that there were no minority members present. But, I am excited about your new communications committee.
May I suggest that the communications committee give a short “Upcoming Democratic Events” report at the beginning of each meeting and list upcoming NSDP, DFA, and OFA events and maintain an events page on the new website?
Yes, District #2 will be split following the 2010 Census, which BTW, the Nye County Democratic Party’s Central Committee, needs to play a prominent role in the Census taking to insure all the noses are counted.
I also agree that the Central Committee needs to reach out to new members, minorities, young adults and youth. There has never been, in my 6 years here, an effort to do that. There were a number from those categories that worked in the Obama campaign. I don’t know about the Clinton campaign.
Good suggestion about the communications committee reporting on upcoming events. I’ll try to get David Bennett’s support of it. As I understand it he is working on the website.
The Meetup Calendar site is also a good place to keep current with ongoing events as well.
Thanks for the comment Paul. I encourage you to post them as often as you can. Keeping your name out there can only help.