Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Democrats Welcome Back Kotter

Everyone is making such a big deal out of Senator Arlen Specter switching parties and the Twitters are going wild.

People seem to forget that back in the 1960s when he was an Assistant DA under Jim Crumlish and the South Philly "Sweathogs" all worked for Angelo Bruno and Antonio Caponigro, Specter was a Democrat. Then, when he wanted to run for District Attorney in 1965, he switched to Republican.

By the time The Cisco Kid ran for mayor, Specter had already made his bones on Capitol Hill and finally won the Senate seat in 1980.

He was glad to be out of Philadelphia politics, as Andrea Mitchell was constantly locking horns with the Big Bambino (Frank Rizzo) and all hell broke loose. Accusations were flying about the police department being used for espionage and rumors had Mayor Rizzo and Republican Richard Nixon in bed together. This does not include the solid gold door knob from hell on Rizzo's house.

"I have found myself increasingly at odds with the Republican philosophy and more in line with the philosophy of the Democratic Party," Specter said at a recent news conference. "I am not prepared to have my 29 year record in the United States Senate decided by the Pennsylvania Republican primary electorate."

You can read the entire article here.

Welcome Back Kotter!

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