Switching political parties mid-term should be illegal

I've never cared too much for people who switch parties while in office. How about you?

I don't care if you're a Republican turned Demo or Democrat turned Repub or Independent turned Libertarian or Libertarian converted to the Constitution Party. First, there should be a law that you have to dance with the one who brung you until the dance is over and then you can go out and get another dancing partner. This switching parties after another party elects you to office is just wrong.

In addition to switching parties, another pet peeve I have with politicians is they don't know when to quit. They stay too long at the parties that are Washington and Columbia. So, second, if you're reelected and serve a good 12 years, let it go. Get another job. Professional politicians do not serve this nation well. They get us into holes that are hard as heck to dig out of.

The most recent turncoat is Rep. Sen. Arlen Specter who announced today that he is switching parties, a move that most likely will seal the fate on the Democrat filibuster-proof 60 seats. Especially if Al Franken ever gets to take his Minnesotan seat.

"I have decided to run for re-election in 2010 in the Democratic primary," the Pennsylvania senator said in a statement quoted on msnbc.com. Well that'll set us all up for a lively race. Let's think this through strategically. Specter, who has served 29 years as Republican, says the party has suddenly gone to far to the right for him.

Twenty-nine years have passed since he first was elected and he never noticed the change? Puhlease! He is simply positioning himself so he can have access to President Obama's network of texting, e-mailing and internet savy gurus. He’s looking for new dance partners.

We’ll see if the glass slippers fit his Cinderella feet.

"I now find my political philosophy more in line with Democrats than Republicans," Specter is quoted as saying, adding that the "change in party affiliation does not mean that I will be a party-line voter any more for the Democrats than I have been for the Republicans." Well, if that's the case, why change? Why not keep voting as an independent thinking human being?

It was just this past month that Specter said there was no way he would switch parties. Obviously, yes there is a way.

Go ahead. Trust a politician to keep his word. Sure as the world, in Washington, "never" means "most likely," I will" means "No way this side of the Atlantic Ocean," and "I am" or "I will " means "Not!"

Specter was expected to face a tough primary challenge in 2010. And he panicked. He retreated. He has survived bouts with cancer three times and undergone chemotherapy for Hodgkin's disease in 2005. He's obviously a fighter, but a better thing to announce today would have been his retirement … The Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele said Republicans "look forward to beating Sen. Specter in 2010, assuming the Democrats don't do it first."

The 79-year-old shouldn't be running again. He should wait out his term as a Republican, then go home and play with his great-grandkids and take a chill pill.

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