The Specter Switch: The Incredible Shrinking Republican Party

Byline: Lanny J. Davis, SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES

We are not losing blue states and shrinking as a party because we are not conservative enough. If we pursue a party that has no place for someone who agrees with me 70 percent of the time, that is based on an ideological purity test rather than a coalition test, then we are going to keep losing.

- Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican

When I read Mr. Graham's comment last week regarding the switch to the Democratic Party by Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, I was reminded of one of my favorite movies from my preteen years, the 1957 movie classic The Incredible Shrinking Man.

It's about a man who is exposed to a combination of radiation and insecticide and slowly begins to shrink. By the end of the movie, he has become so small that his wife puts him in a cage to protect him from their house cat and then, at the end of the movie, he is tragically washed down the drain of his sink.

The Republican Party cannot blame radiation and insecticide for its shrinkage. Sooner or later, it …

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Publication information: Article title: The Specter Switch: The Incredible Shrinking Republican Party. Contributors: Not available. Newspaper title: The Washington Times (Washington, DC). Publication date: May 4, 2009. Page number: A04. © 2009 The Washington Times LLC. COPYRIGHT 2009 Gale Group.

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