Okay, right out of the gate, let me say that both sides of the partisan divide are idiots (for very different reasons). With that out of the way, how about this Arlen Specter story, right? Crrrraaaaaazy. In case you missed it (i.e. have not turned on a TV/visited an Internets), the five-term Republican senator from Pennsylvania has switched parties and will seek reelection in the 2010 election as a Democrat.

Specter, in his own words:

In the course of the last several months since the stimulus vote, I have traveled the state and surveyed the sentiments of the Republican Party in Pennsylvania and public opinion polls, observed other public opinion polls and have found that the prospects for winning a Republican primary are bleak.

The reactions have been, well, mixed. This is the equivalent of a bomb exploding in the minds of everyone in Washington D.C., so maybe I should take it easier on some of these people. Let’s begin with the Republicans.

Oh, what, you’re surprised? Really? Were you also surprised when Rosie O’Donnell came out of the closet? Take a look at yourselves. The three moderate senators in your party (and there are basically only three) were ostracized for passing the stimulus. Obviously you have an ideological difference, but was it worth it to lose one of your most senior members? The continuation of a far-right stranglehold on the party is squeezing out all moderates, and with it, moderate voters. After 2010, the GOP will be lucky to have any Republicans north of the Mason-Dixon line.

Pat Toomey and like-minded members in his Club for Growth are pushing moderates further to the left and shrinking the party. As Lindsay Graham put it in this Politico story, “I don’t want to be a member of the Club for Growth. . . I want to be a member of a vibrant national Republican party that can attract people from all corners of the country — and we can govern the country from a center-right perspective.”

On the other side of the aisle… ugh! Talk about looking a gift horse in the mouth. Is nothing enough for you people? Kos at “Daily Kos” (aka where America goes to die) had this to say:

In some ways, Specter’s switch doesn’t give us anything much. As his statement says, he’s not switching back on EFCA, he won’t be a reliable Democratic vote, and he’ll probably duke it out with Lieberman to be the most obnoxious anti-Democratic voice from within the caucus.

On the other hand, he was going to lose his primary and we’d easily pick up the seat against Toomey, giving us a real Democrat in that seat. Doesn’t seem like a great deal.

You. Are. Awful. First of all, you have another Democrat in the senate. Why don’t you just shut up and appreciate it? Secondly, what is happening in this country that moderates—people who think with their BRAINS and evaluate each piece of legislation as good or bad for the country—are viewed as abhorrent?

Alright, I need a beer. I’m going to go simmer.