Sen. Arlen Specter simply quits.  He says the party left him, not vice versa.  Blah, blah, blah.  The Republican Party has not changed its core principles since Ronald Reagan was President.  In fact, the core itself traces all the way back to Lincoln--unchanged:  The Constitution, promoting limited government, exists to protect the fundamental truth in the Declaration of Independence:  All Men Are Created Equal.

Sure, we've had some ups (spending is sure up) and downs (the stock market comes to mind) in recent years, that have hurt the party's position.  But Arlen Specter seems to have always been on the wrong side of fixing those issues.  He's always for big labor and big government spending.  It was the very issues that helped the GOP lose control of Congress that he always advocated for.  Had he embraced, and convinced his colleagues to embrace, a limited government, low tax, individual-freedom approach, maybe we'd not be in the minority now.

But instead, he's felt the political wind shift, and been blown along with it.  What a profile in political courage.  It is not like he resigned, re-registered, and ran as a Democrat.  Nor is it a matter of quitting when his party was in the majority--which would require political courage, giving up his perks and rank.  This is him flipping to protect his own political career and join the majority (yippee, he'll get a bigger office, and all he'll have to give up was his self respect.)  Of course, his new committee positions and nice office come at the expense of denying Republicans the filibuster, so this is going to cost Americans--especially at tax time--a lot more.

Here's what the Chairman of the CRP, Ron Nehring, had to say about the matter in his recent press release on the flip flop (emphasis mine):

"Arlen Specter's decision to join the Democratic Party has absolutely nothing to do with principles.  This was a poll-driven decision based purely on selfish interests.  Polls showed that because of his abandonment of basic Republican principles in the Senate, Arlen Specter, an incumbent United States Senator, could not even win his own Republican primary, nor win a general election as either a Republican or even as an independent.

"Arlen Specter decided on his own - no one forced him -- to violate core Republican principles by voting for the wasteful $787 billion stimulus bill while every single House Republican, including California's entire Republican delegation, voted with taxpayers in opposition instead.   We're extremely proud of our Republican members of Congress from California for consistently standing with taxpayers while Arlen Specter was busy implementing Barbara Boxer's agenda.

"The Republican Party didn't leave Arlen Specter.  Arlen Specter left the Republican Party some time ago.

"Principles matter, and adding billions of dollars in debt that will mean permanently higher taxes for the next generation of Americans in order to fund Democrat pet projects is flatly inconsistent with Republican principles.

I agree.  By the way, I would not count a move based on philosophical or principled reasons shameful.  Sen. Specter's switch is shameful.